I`m trying to figure out how to motivate children for the summer. Sometimes I wish I lived on a farm so there would be chores for the kids to do all day. Instead I have to be creative about getting them to do something valuable with their time. Nothing drives me more crazy than having kids sit in the house all summer long with nothing to do.
The girls are excited to sign up for a summer music camp. They will get the opportunity to work with some professional musicians and even do some recording in a studio. My oldest daughter has an amazing voice and will be taking more lessons in the fall. This will give her an opportunity to try some new things. My youngest daughter also has a beautiful voice and she likes to play the guitar. It should be lots of fun for them.
All the kids talk about working on their stories this summer. They like to joke about how funny it would be if, someday, we all hit the New York Times bestseller list all at the same time. Dreams are good.
What I need to figure out is how to keep the sixteen year old busy. Given the option, he would play the computer all day or lay on the couch and read a book. A little of each is fine, but when he spends the entire day doing either one of those, he sure gets grumpy. So far I`ve come up with quite the list of things to keep him occupied, none of which inspire any excitement in him. It would be nice if he would get a job, but until he gets his driver`s license, there aren`t a lot of options around town. He would have to drive to the city like his sister does. He has been delivering papers for two years, but that is done by 7:00 a.m. That leaves a lot of hours to fill.
It is kind of sad for me to watch kids now. I remember when I was their age, I couldn`t wait until the chores were finished so I could go out and do things with my friends. We swam at the pool just about every day, we went for long bike rides, and wrote and put on plays. It sure is a different world now. I rarely see kids around town during the summer and can only guess that most of them are spending time just like my teenagers. It does make me glad that summer vacation is only eight weeks long. Much longer would be torture for all of us. I wonder what sort of things my grandkids will do to keep themselves busy?
3 comments:
I hear you! Getting our gets to be productive drains all the productivity right out of me. Let me know if you come up with any good ideas.
So far my ideas at the beginning of summer always seem good. Trying to carry them out hardly ever works, but I never giv eup trying.
Hi = )
I really liked everything you wrote. It really does ring a bell.Im a teenager myself and I really don't understand sometimes what to do, especially in the summer.
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