Are you ready for summer?
It will officially be here in just days!!
In this issue and the next, we’re sharing expert tips and ideas to Design Your Summer.
In Part 1 we’ll cover how to get your home summer ready… things like cleaning out backpacks and school supplies and storing them away purposefully so you can find them again in the fall; getting the garage turned over for quick access to toys, sports equipment, bikes and all things summer, and how to plan for (and survive) the season!
In Part 2 we’ll cover summer fun… planning summer parties and travel, experiencing local attractions and things to do close to home.
As we dive into Part 1, I’m going to start with some advice I wish I’d been given a long time ago…
Don’t go it alone!
Recruit your kids and partner to help you design your summer and transition your home for summer. Get them involved in things like where outdoor summer toys and gear are stored so they’ll know where to find them and more importantly, they’ll know where to put them away!
Additionally, as we move into summer, it’s a great time to take a fresh look at the bigger projects that need attention. Use our June checklist in Amanda’s sneak peek video below to help get through those projects. And again, get the whole family in on it!
If you have little ones, don’t think I’m not talking to you. Toddlers are the most willing to help. Give them a task and lots of cheerleading and maybe, just maybe, they’ll grow up to be good helpers (and not grow into chronically incredulous teenagers… but, hey, no promises).
Finally, remember that Father’s day is this Sunday. Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there!
The List: 15 new resources for moms, published weekly…
6 skimmable articles to offer perspective on this week’s topic, 8 informative and/or entertaining podcast episodes to make the chores fly by, and 1 insightful video to inspire you to move forward with grace.
📖 6 Skimmable Articles
🎗 Awareness 🏡 Home 🗂 Productivity 🥗 Wellness 🧗 Growth 👨👩👧👧 Family
🥗 This mom gets me!
“Now this list isn’t here to make you feel guilty for not planning the perfect summer for your kids, but it’s to help you enjoy it. So here’s my real mom’s guide.”
Read A Real Mom’s Guide to Surviving Summer
🗂 Time to clean and store the backpacks and lunchboxes!
“Many bookbags and lunch totes aren’t cheap, but they can last a long time if you care for them properly. Learn how to clean a backpack and soft, insulated lunchboxes with the following tips.”
Read Tips for Cleaning Backpacks and Lunchboxes
🎗 Manage those school supplies before you dive into summer
“The school season is over! No more packing lunches or enduring the morning rush. What a relief right? Until you see the backpacks piled in a corner somewhere and leftover school supplies tossed around the house.”
Read School’s Out For Summer: School Supply Tips
👨👩👧👦 Does the thought of keeping your kids occupied all summer give you anxiety?
“While the kids may be thrilled about the last day of school, many parents experience anxiety about keeping their children occupied during the summer months.”
Read 6 Tips to Transition from School to Summer
🏡 Don’t spend your summer disorganized. Do this!
“Getting organized NOW will mean less time in the house searching for sandals, sunscreen, and water toys and more time out enjoying the magic of summer.”
Read How to Organize Your Home for Summer
🧗🏽♀️ There’s grace in order. Teach them young!
“Restore order and functionality to your garage space by trying these nine ideas to make garage storage for kids easier.”
Read Garage Storage For Kids: 9 Smart Ways to Cut the Clutter
🎧 8 Podcast Episodes
KEY:
📰 Newsletter Topic
👸🏻 Society & Culture
💡 Ideas: Big and Small
🤰🏻 Motherhood
😎 Relax & Escape
🧗 Growth
👨👩👧👧 For the Family
⏭ Series
💣 explicit language
🌭 frank content
⚠️ sensitive topic
📰 Kids want to help?!
“Raising kids who pitch in around your home doesn’t require bribes or a chore chart. Kids want to help – and parents can nurture that desire by including them in age-appropriate ways.”
Listen to LifeKit Parenting | Raising Kids Who Help With Chores (21 min)
👸🏻 Who is Olivia Rodrigo?
“When this year began, Olivia Rodrigo hadn’t even released a single as a recording artist. But by mid-January, she was setting streaming records and sitting atop the Billboard Hot 100.”
Listen to Pop Culture Happy Hour | Olivia Rodrigo (17 min)
💡 “Forgetting is totally normal”
“Have you ever misplaced something you were just holding? Completely blanked on a famous actor’s name? Walked into a room and immediately forgot why? Neuroscientist Lisa Genova digs into two types of memory failures we regularly experience — and reassures us that forgetting is totally normal.”
Listen to TED | How your memory works and why forgetting is totally OK (23 min)
🤰🏻 It’s a meltdown miracle!
“If your child is having a meltdown or throwing a tantrum in the supermarket, you’ll do almost anything to make them stop—including turning into MeanParent™. But there’s another way!”
Listen to Blinkist | Tina Payne Bryson: What Your Kid Needs Most is You (39 min)
😎 Could you live in six cubic feet?
”At San Quentin State Prison, the typical cell measures approximately 4’ x 9’ and contains a bunk bed, toilet, sink, two men, and their six cubic feet of belongings. In our first episode of Ear Hustle, hear stories of negotiating this space and the relationships that come with living in such close quarters.”
Listen to Ear Hustle | Cellies (24 min) 💣
🧗 The 5 Senses of Summer
“We talk about how you might explore the five senses of summer, suggest a simple hack that makes it easier to focus, and review listeners’ suggestions about how to ward off growing Obliger-rebellion.”
Listen to Happier with Gretchen Rubin | Explore the Five Senses of Summer, a Hack for Boosting Focus, and a Deep Dive into Solutions for Obliger-Rebellion (35 min)
👨👩👧👦 The Mystery of the Tooth Freeze
“Guy Raz is eating some of his famous Guy’s Cream, but he gets a chilly surprise that leads him to the dentist! It’s the who, what, when, where, how and WOW of the TRPC5 Protein!”
Listen to Wow in the World | Tooth Ache Tooth Cake (24 min)
⏭ “One brave and unlikely whistleblower”
“With Theranos technology now being used by real customers, many employees are at a breaking point. They are horrified by what they believe to be widespread deception and dangerous practices, but Theranos has implemented increasingly extreme measures to stop them from speaking out.”
Listen to Dropout | The Whistleblower | Episode 4 (42 min)
🎬 Insightful Video
Plan to do this for ONE SECOND every day this summer. (Amanda has been doing this all year – there’s even an app for it!)
“There are so many tiny, beautiful, funny, tragic moments in your life — how are you going to remember them all? Director Cesar Kuriyama shoots one second of video every day as part of an ongoing project to collect all the special bits of his life.”
Watch One second every day | Cesar Kuriyama (8:02)
That’s The List for this week!
Do you have go-to tips to design your summer… or a take away from this week’s list? Drop us a note in the comments!
As always, we hope our newsletter inspires you to get your ship together and get through your week with grace.
Have a good one and please reach out if we can be helpful to you in any way!
Love & Grace,
Rachel & Amanda
This post came from our weekly newsletter. Click the button below to view the email version.
Get our newsletter delivered to your inbox weekly. Click the button below to subscribe.
There are several ways to experience Grace in the Race. Click the button below to explore them.
🎧 Podcast Playlist 6/16/21