Summer Days
Summer Days: Ideas for Parents & Kiddos
Unlike the summer days of my 1960 and ’70s youth—when we kids were simply left home for the day and told only to return for meals, water, and bathroom breaks—kids today have more options for how to spend their summers… but all come at a cost. (Actually, those options were probably offered for my generation, too, but camps—day or sleepaway—were just not in my policeman father’s budget.)
As kids, we learned to entertain ourselves. Later, as a mom, I learned to create inexpensive, sometimes strange, but mostly appreciated adventures for my own children. Unlike my childhood, I was not about to let my kids run free for eight hours and come home bloodied, bruised, stung, and dangerously dehydrated. A few ideas for you this summer, from my own archives:
Visiting Cemeteries and Graveyards: At least once a season, we would stop in at the residences of the dead. We would wander the rows looking for the oldest stone, the most unusual name, the oldest resident, and the youngest. Together, we noticed how humankind once appreciated every single day of life so much that they counted not just the years, but the individual days lived on cemetery markers. My kids and I would pick a gravestone and, together, use historical context to weave a possible story of that person's life. We would allow this stranger in a strange land to come alive in our imaginations. We honored them by saying their name, and we developed our imaginations, storytelling, and communication skills by creating stories that we tried to make as historically accurate as possible. No watching television in 1920; no access to antibiotics in 1840; but, yes to surviving the Civil War’s battle of Gettysburg, or being a nurse during the Spanish Civil War.
Granted, as a history teacher myself, developing these skills seemed essential to me—but what has always been essential is allowing our kids’ imaginations to wander, for the seriousness and silliness of life to be woven tightly together, and to recognize that we can use both to bring meaning to our lives. It is also highly recommended that post-gravestone storytelling includes a stop for ice cream cones with rainbow sprinkles.
Books: Never underestimate the power of book-time to settle arguments, soothe the boredom beast, lower the tensions of frustrated mothers without the consumption of wine, and produce memories that last a lifetime. Chapter books demand seats in chairs, floors, or snuggled up close on the sofa. This even works on tweens and teenagers. Book time is our time; it’s the Pavlovian conditioning bell that means we all sit and read together. It helps if the book is funny. One of our favorites that still makes us giggle when we think of it: Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos. My son—like the titular character, Joey—had a hard time sitting still and focusing. He saw himself in Joey, and we could laugh together at the exploits of Joey and his grandmother who both struggled to fit in as “normal.” Libraries are a reward, books are prizes, and time spent reading together is a gift. (Be sure to check out Nook Books at 50 N. Queen Street in downtown Lancaster for an incredible selection of kids’ picture and chapter books. Even though I am no longer purchasing picture books for my own children, I love stopping in for the joyful atmosphere and incredible curated selection.)
Doing Chores Together (Better Known as “Going on Adventures”): As every adult knows, life is full of one to-do list after another. Our lists are ridiculously endless and yet everything needs to be checked off. But running those errands together in the car gave all of us time—sans cell phone or iPad—to connect, play car games (the “going on a picnic” alphabet game was always a hit), daydream, or loudly sing along to our favorite songs—all of which made those endless chores seem not so onerous. Even today, though my kids are fully grown, when we walk out the door with our to-do lists in hand, we’ll often yell, ”Off to do our adventures!”
My children are adults now. They’re incredibly smart, kind, funny people who—despite all of their achievements—still remind me of the kids I went on adventures with. They still sing loudly in the car, and stop at every bookstore they can find, anywhere in the world. They are still willing to play our cemetery game, but now they can weave stories our Irish ancestors would be proud of. Still, most of all, we each find any chance we can to stop and take in the glory and beauty of summer. I wish the same for you and your family.
By Marian Pontz
