Summer Sanity Savers

As we begin August (the last month of summer!) some of us are already counting the days until the next school year begins! If you're longing for a little bit of summer sanity, it's not too late to put some of these strategies into action:

Sanity Saver #1: Take care of mom

What are you doing to keep your emotional fuel tank refueled?

If you don't work outside the home, your school-age kids are now with you 24/7. Create a moms night out once a week with a friend, or trade "days off" with another mom whose kids are close in age to your kids.

If you are working full-time, it takes a lot more effort in the summer to make sure the kids are cared for and getting to their summer activities. Make sure you're taking care of yourself in order to really be able to take care of your family.

Sanity Saver #2: Create a routine

It's hard to go from the tight routine of school to absolutely no routine in the summer. While it's important to not schedule every minute, a loose routine can give structure to summer days. Maybe Monday is swimming day, Tuesday library day, Wednesday friend day, Thursday house and laundry day, and Friday free day. A schedule can guide planning and give some sense of security to our kids.

Sanity Saver #3: Set boundaries

Kids are more likely to stay within boundaries if they actually know what those boundaries are. How much television is ok? How long on video games? Simply requiring the kids to use the kitchen timer to self-monitor their video games or computer time can be helpful. If they forget to the set the timer, they lose the video games/computer time for the rest of the day.

Sanity Saver #4: Give opportunities

Summer is a great time for kids to learn new skills like cooking, gardening, or laundry. Take the time to teach them how to do a new skill and then give them ample opportunity to practice. If you have junior high or high school age children, they can be in charge of one meal a week. Grade-schoolers can learn to do laundry and be in charge of a couple of loads a week. This gives kids ownership and a sense of pride about contributing to the family. It also teaches them lifelong skills.

Summer is a great time for family, but it can wear on the sanity of even the best of us. Put some sanity savers into your strategy, and you'll find yourself enjoying this season even more (and not wishing it away)!

(taken from a Hearts at Home monthly email. Sign up here.)

15 Strategies for Making the Most of Christmas Break

(from the December 2010 email from Hearts at Home)

In the next few weeks, most of us will experience some sort of change in routine. If you have school age children home for a couple of weeks of Christmas break, you'll find that being proactive about the break is far better than being reactive to their certain boredom somewhere along the way.

Need some ideas for making Christmas break the best it can be? Consider these tried and true suggestions from other moms in the trenches:

Go to the library. Stay longer than normal to give everyone time to begin reading the book they're checking out.

Bake cookies together. Make extra dough to form into cookie balls, place on a baking sheet, and freeze in the freezer. Once frozen, put the frozen balls in a freezer baggie to pull from when you want quick, homemade cookies, for an after school snack later in January.

Call an elderly friend or neighbor. Ask them if you and your kids can assist them with any tasks they would like done but aren't physically able to do anymore.

Pre-determine one or two days a week to be "no screen" days. Prepare the kids ahead of time that these days there won't be any TV, computer, or video game screens. Yes, they'll go into withdrawal, but be prepared to help them see the opportunity to read a book, draw, play with toys they haven't pulled out in forever, play board games, do a puzzle, etc.

Have a "clean out your closet" and/or "clean out your drawers" day. Once completed, make the trip together to Goodwill or the Mission Mart to drop the clothes off. Reward them with a special treat at their favorite ice cream shop.

Have a quiet hour each day when the kids go to their room to read or play quietly. (If they share a room with a sibling, have them go to their own space). This helps break up all the togetherness that often leads to arguing.

Get out of the house. Go to a local museum or brave a day at the zoo to see the animals in their winter environment.

Put a 1000 piece puzzle out on a card table that you work off and on throughout the day. When the puzzle is complete, cover it with puzzle glue and frame it to display in your home.

Have an ongoing game of Yahtzee (or your family's favorite game) going throughout the entire break. Play once a day after lunch or dinner and see who has the highest score at the end of break.

Go ice skating. Indoors or outdoors, it's great exercise!

Encourage the kids to play outside at least 15 minutes each day. They need the exercise and the change of scenery!

Give your kids spray bottles of colored water. Then let them paint pictures in the snow!

Blow bubbles outside. When it is cold, the bubbles freeze and they are fun to pop.

Choose one day as your "thank you note" day. Make hot chocolate, put on some holiday music, and sit down at the table to write thank you notes to extended family the kids received gifts from.

Assign each child one day that they are in charge of preparing a meal. Let them choose the menu, then guide them (and help as necessary) in preparing the meal for the family.

Hearts on the Go

(from the December 2010 email from Hearts at Home)

So Christmas is just around the corner. Do you have your baking done? Is your shopping finished? Do you have the house cleaned? Are you packed for traveling? There are so many things to get done to "do" Christmas. Isn't it time to let go of some of the expectations for a "perfect" Christmas and really enjoy this time with our families?

I'm issuing a challenge to myself today, and to you if you want to take it, to drink in my relationships and let go of my "to do" list for this week. No my gifts aren't all wrapped yet, but I've got a few gifts to give that can't be wrapped.

I want to give the gift of listening today. I want to make sure that when my children and my husband speak to me, I look into their eyes. I want them to feel that they are special. I don't want anyone to feel like they are in the way of what I need to do. They are what I need to do. Lord, let me give the gift of listening today.

I want to give the gift of time today. When my 14 year old asks me to play music with him, I'm going to stop what I am doing to play with him. I once heard the convicting response of a young girl when asked what kind of message she would give to parents from a child's point of view. She responded, "Parents have too many tomorrows. Tomorrow I'll play ball with you. Tomorrow we'll bake cookies together. Tomorrow I will play that game. Most of the time tomorrow never comes." Lord, let me give the gift of time today.

I want to give the gift of touch today. Have you ever gone through the day or the week and realized that you really haven't given out any hugs lately? People have the need to touch and be touched. Our children and teens need hugs from mom and dad daily. I'm going to make sure that my husband gets a bear hug today. When my daughter comes in to tell me a story, I will try to remember to touch her as we interact. Lord, let me give the gift of touch today.

I want to give the gift of encouragement today. I want to make sure I tell my 16-year-old son how much I appreciate the responsibility he has been taking on lately. I want my 14-year-old son to know that I think he has been doing well playing guitar on the worship team. I want my husband to know I greatly appreciate how hard he works to support our family. Sometimes the people we live with receive the least verbal encouragement from us. Lord, let me give the gift of encouragement today.

I want to give the gift of grace today. When my teenagers aren't as excited about decorating Christmas cookies as I want them to be, let me give them grace and respond with love instead of anger. When my husband doesn't clean up the kitchen in the way I was hoping he would, let me respond with grace--seeing what he did rather than what he didn't do. Life-giving grace is about allowing others to be human--to make mistakes without the fear of relationship-robbing anger as the response. Lord, let me give the gift of grace today.

I want to give the gift of Jesus today. Since we are celebrating His birthday, I want to make sure that we invite Him to the celebration. When I'm tempted to skip that Christmas Eve service because I still have too much to do, I will resist that temptation, gather the family, and make sure we take time to worship together. Lord, let me give the gift of Jesus today.

Yes, Christmas is days away. The gifts aren't all wrapped, the food isn't all prepared, and my family will arrive soon. Some things need to be accomplished today. But I want to do it with my family, not for them. I want to give them the kinds of gifts that can't be placed in a box and wrapped in red and green paper.

Come on, join me. Fix yourself a cup of hot chocolate, sit down, put your feet up, and gaze at the Christmas tree lights for a few minutes. Think about the incredible blessings God has given to you. Thank Him. Ponder the gifts that can be given today that don't need to be wrapped. Lord, thank you for the gift of family you have given to me.

Merry Christmas,
Jill Savage

Wife of Mark Mom to Anne, Evan, Erica, Kolya, and Austin and Nana to Rilyn

Jill Savage is the Chief Executive Officer for Hearts at Home

Pink Power

You might have noticed it - pink is everywhere! October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and pink is the designated color. A whole month dedicated to this one devastating type of cancer is not to take away from the seriousness of the many other deadly cancers, but to remind us as women a few simple steps we can take to keep ourselves and each other healthy.

Jill Savage, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Heats at Home, asks on her blog today "What have you done about breast cancer this month?"

Click the question above or here to access Jill's blog.