Here it is, a number of weeks into summer vacation and things are moving along quite nicely, if I do say so myself.

The level of scheduling that is involved in a typical summer, makes any parent who has this responsibility, a natural candidate for working at NASA on the next shuttle launch.

I never thought it would happen, but I managed to get my daughter into tennis lessons with the friend and teacher she wants to take tennis with at a time that doesn’t conflict with the teacher or either girls’ camp schedule.  Monumental achievement!

Our son is a Counselor in Training this year and we managed to not only find the position for him (to his credit, he had to land the job) but also arrange the schedule so that we can get him there and back without too much trouble each day.

We have also scheduled a series of swim lessons, play dates, beach days with mom (when mom isn’t working to pay for camp, tennis and swimming) and a bona fide family vacation that will no doubt rival anything Chevy Chase could think up.

So it is with great glee that I turn my attention to myself at this point.  What can I do for ME this summer?

Just the sound of it makes me wince a bit – it sounds so selfish and yet, I deserve it and so do YOU.

So, what will you do for YOU this summer?

Coach Me Quick ideas for taking care of you:

1.  Maybe you can find an extra hour to read each week?

2.  Perhaps you could relax some of the rules around the house (the benefit is that you don’t have to monitor rules that are temporarily non-existent)

3.  If you work at home, take a mid-afternoon nap once in awhile.

4.  Plan a Saturday or Sunday with no plans.  Block it out from morning till night and just do what you and your family feel like doing.

5.  You know those big projects that you have been meaning to get to?  Make a decision that you will not get to them until the fall.

6.  Say no more often – to children, family, friends and co-workers.

7.  Delegate.  The children are at home!  People used to have children to work the farm – take a lesson from our fore fathers and mothers and put the little darlings to work.

I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas for self care this summer!  Share your comments below.

Putting my feet up and watching the children work around the house,

Jamee