Summertime

Summer is here, and the blogosphere is awash in summer-posts, summer-lists, and my "favourite" summer-survival guides. What do all these things have in common you ask? Well isn't it obvious? (No. I don't mean summer.) They all want to help you deal with those vacationing little monsters also known as your kids. So I decided, because a) I don't want to be left behind, and b) because maybe the real purpose of all these lists is to make sure we even get some summery weather here, and if so, I am so totally in, to add my own Ultimate Guide To Summer!

Summer, officially runs from June 21 to September 22 (from the longest day of the year to the day in which day and night are the same -12 hours each. You really do learn something new every day!), but as every parent knows Summer really runs between the last day of the school year and the first day of the next year (from the day you are excited and energetic to have your kids with you to the day of total exhaustion and willingness to sell them to whomever is willing to pay first).
In that regard I have 6 weeks until Summer, (which will then run for exactly 6 weeks for Ron. 12 more days of vacation for Yon because he is starting Reception, and that is how it goes apparently). First option is to go through those 6 weeks until summer in a desperate attempt to ignore the fact that it is indeed upon us soon. It's kind of easy here in the UK, because lets face it - it's not like the weather is getting any hotter or brighter or anything resembling a proper summer. If you look out the window (most days) you could easily think - hey that's autumn! or even - hey that's winter! Works wonders for the denial-loving souls.
Unfortunately (as we learned the hard way. The really hard way) that doesn't really works and you still get summer, just with two bored out of their mind kids and no plans.
That is why we usually go with door number two and make plans for summer. This year it's important for us
a) because although it's officially our second summer here in the UK, it will be our first one as people-who-really-live-here;
b) because we need to plan the summer-budget & the Hidai-summer-days-off well in advance. Why, do you ask? well, simple, it's bloody expensive to do everything we planned, and Hidai hates it when I spring days off on him. If it's not planned two months in advance  it's not gonna happen. Oh, the spontaneity we live by;
c) because it is so easy for me to just let them be, you know? they are old enough and I am busy and lazy enough, and If I let them, they would sit around all day, each with his own electronic device, swapping them occasionally and coming up for air only when they are hungry or out of battery;
d) because if I won't do fun stuff during the summer then I will not have good photos and stories for the blog. And also, I will not be able to nag my kids later in life with a "you know how much effort and money we put into your summers?!" and guilt trip them into doing whatever I want;
and e) which is the real reason, after all, and every parent knows that, we use our kids shamelessly to do things we want but feel embarrassed to admit - love water parks? cartoons? Zoos? fairs? kids are your answer. Also, kids are a great excuse for why you just "had to" watch the first match of the season - does "it wasn't me, the kid begged me" sounds familiar?

A few guidelines I had to plan according to -
Kids have to leave the house at least 4 days a week otherwise they start bouncing on walls, or crying / bickering / whining / annoying the hell out of me for no good reason.
Yon has to learn how to be able to function without afternoon naps (yes, he still go for a nap every day between 1pm and 3pm. Half of the time he even falls asleep. But since he is starting school full-time in October, he has to get used to not sleeping in the middle of the day. I will also need to get used to being without those two quiet hours in the middle of the day).
As far as I know and could find out throughout the year, there are no organised activities for full days for kids around here (and the ones I did find were only for Ron and very expensive).
Ron does math & reading every vacation (okay, I feel the need to justify myself here. It is not my fault. The kid loves his math. He loves it. And now that he discovered the joy of books he also loves that. I can't say no to reading books now can I?), and now Yon will start too, as he is starting school and it's the tradition.
I hate nature. It is a super important guideline, especially for me. I don't like going to the parks, I don't particularly enjoy Zoos, or petting-zoos, or playing football or sitting on the grass.
Ron has to practice his football, preferably outside of the house. Surprisingly enough less things get broken when you play outside.
Nobody in this house likes arts & crafts. That is, by far, the best thing about having (non-artistic) boys. I don't have to do any arts & crafts that are more complicated than giving Yon a piece of paper and some colouring-pens. That does not stop me buying boxes full of arts & crafts materials, but that is a totally different personality disorder.

Taking all these very valid points and guidelines into account, I sat down to make my summer survival plan. First thing is first, I informed Hidai that I am enforcing our "one day a week" rule, according to which Hidai takes one day off in every week the kids are home, there by insuring that I get one day off a week (actually he is insuring I get three days, because weekends are mostly his responsibility anyway. The joy of an all boys household - they get to watch football, and I get 5 hours to myself - pre-match, match and post-match of course).
By now I felt like I'm half way to a well-organised summer, after all I've just chucked half the week in Hidai's lap. Unfortunately for me, I still had to sit down and chart The Plan. Which I did, and I am going to share it here in a desperate attempt to make sure we actually do about half of it...
Without further ado - The Big Summer 2013 Plan!
Time table that includes time for - a morning movie, playtime, snack times, going out to the park time, reading, TV, meals, maths and various electronic devices.
Library - I am so ashamed to even tell you that, but, we haven't been to the library yet. We've been here a year and still don't have a library card. Ron is going to the library once every two weeks with his class, but as a family thing we still haven't done it. I used to love libraries as a child, and now I found the Summer Reading Challenge which I think Ron would enjoy, so library visiting is going in on the list.
Kids week - after watching We Will Rock You with the kids over Easter and seeing how much they loved it, I've decided to try and use this offer this year and take them to at least one more musical. The only thing is - Yon doesn't like the whole people-dressed-as-animals thing, and Ron isn't big on fantasy, so we will have to search the list quite carefully to find something everyone will like...
Outdoors fun, is something summer is good for, right? So I am hoping the weather will agree with me and we could finally take the kids to Kew-Gardens, Hampton Court, Crystal Place Park, a pick-your-own farm (where Yon could touch EVERYTHING), Brighton Beach, boat ride in the Themes, Water park (hopefully will help Ron's dislike of water), Chessington World of Adventure, Dinosaurs mini-golf, the Ice Cream Festival at King's Cross (we were there last year so this is a maybe), the family festival at the Zoo, and of course how can I forget the first match of the season?.
Indoor fun - if I ever finish my chocolate-free lifestyle and go back to normal life, than I am taking the kids to Cadbury World. Museums - Science, Transport, Childhood, etc., Discover Children Story Centre, and obviously at least one movie (Monster University and Smurfs 2 are a definite).
So basically my plan (as it stands now) is to have Mondays & one other day as Timetable days (unless someone wants to help me clean the house. Somehow that never happens), and all other weekdays are one family fun day and two park / library outings - depending on the weather obviously. Weekends are also divided into two - one lazy day at home and one is meant for family outings.
In about a month from now I will start writing it all down according to precise dates. Like I said, it's all about spontaneity in our house.
There you have it, survival through fun. And military precision.