Notes on Summer

Summer...I love it. But I also understand the complex nature of my kids being home all the time! Yikes, it can be so so much togetherness.

 

This post, I'm basically sharing my personal notes and thoughts I wrote down about summer. It's a very loose, tentative guide. By no means do I know exactly what I'm doing, but it helps me to frame up a plan to keep things from going to heck in a hand basket.

Let's start by lowering expectations. Life is hard and unpredictable. Tropical storms come and keep you up all night (this was last night for us). I (you, we) are not going to live up to all we want summer to be. There may be some days when your TV is on all day and you OD on pimento cheese. It's okay.

Now that I've said that...let's talk about a kid schedule. There are certainly weeks where we have plans - VBS, trips to see family, camps, swim days, etc. But there are also a lot of days at home.  The schedule is a guideline to benefit me (the mom) and the children so we can get into a rhythm and people can know what to expect around here.

Here's our very loose, flexible, ever evolving "schedule"

wake up
eat breakfast
listen to music
clean up rooms
free time/ run errands if needed

11:00 lunch
summer work book/ memory work
read aloud to little kids (George and Caroline)
free time

2:00 Caroline - nap
TV/screen time for big kids
3:00 snack
free time

6:30 dinner
read aloud to big kids
bed
.....

So, that's how I'm directing my kids' time.

 

Now let's talk about ME. This is how I'm dividing up my time and activities.

Calling it MY SUMMER MANIFESTO

morning things
read Bible, pray, drink coffee
ABCD's of housework 
e-mail
nursing continuing ed
read to George and Caroline

afternoon things 
yoga/Pilates for 12 minutes
read and rest
dinner prep
listen to something good (audiobook or podcast)

Nights are for free time and fun, and I hope to get some reading in with the older 2 kids.

TUESDAY- Walmart grocery pick up day
Friday night meal - spaghetti or fish + vegetables, taking a break from our usual homemade pizza

signature drink - Michelob Ultra

big goals for me-
get away one time per week for several hours by myself
finish RN continuing education for my nursing license renewal
update family photo albums
go on at least 4 summer date nights
_______________________

Some other little side tips....

Each child has a simple wardrobe and everything fits in ONE drawer - clothes, socks, underwear...everything.

I keep all the swimwear in a laundry basket in my closet. Swim bag stays packed with towels and sunscreen.We can be ready for a swim and out the door in about 10 minutes.

"Say yes as much as possible" is sort of my parenting mantra, especially for my oldest who could use more autonomy.

The food plan is it's own thing and it deserves it's own post. All you need to know is I'm on it. I am the boss of food.

..........

Over this past weekend, like a good millennial, I had an episode of anxiety. Y'all, in all my days I have never experienced this. I was short of breath and I just felt so frazzled. In my mind I was FINE, but my body was not.

Honestly, I think it was a delayed anxiety from surviving the school year and more specifically, the month of May. My brain was overloaded and my body was beat. Also, the constant stimuli of kids...it adds up. Summer will cure what ails me. I can already feel it!

Cheers to corn dogs, chillaxin', and keeping things simple!

What are your summer "manifestos" ? 

Our Grocery Spending 2017

I can hardly believe it myself because I'm no good at record keeping, but for the entire year of 2017 I tracked our grocery spending every single month.

We are a family of six, 2 adults and 4 kids ages 2, 4, 6, and 8. We eat almost exclusively at home. These numbers include toiletries and household goods. It also includes going out to eat for convenience, but not for planned, special meals at nice restaurants. It includes alcohol. It does not include dog food, cat food or diapers and wipes.

Here are the results.

January $741.10

February $774.43

March $667.60

April $954.67

May $1,160.83

June $919.83

July $615.00

August $1067.00

September $629.73

October $995.20

November $509.29

December $ 689.24

The average comes to $810.26/month.

It was enlightening to take a year and observe and study our food spending habits and how much we actually spend on groceries.  Mostly, I'm happy with the amount we spent. I worked really hard to watch our spending. My only basis for wanting to cut down on the budget is how much food we wasted and gave to the dogs in 2017.

About half way through the year, I got really interested in the topic of food waste. Have you heard the shocking statistics about how much food Americans waste?! Google it and you will quickly find that the average American family wastes about $2,000 worth of food per year. It totally believe it.

With the realization that our family wastes a little more food than I care to admit, I've tried to focus on many of my habits in the kitchen in order to decrease our food waste. Because food is money!

One thing I implemented was a regular grocery shopping day. I now keep it like I would a dentist appointment, and I buy no more than one week's worth of groceries. This helped me get a better understanding of how much food we actually needed to get through one week.

Another thing I've done, though I've kept it to myself, is declare 2018 "the year of the humble meal."

scrambled eggs + toast
grilled cheese + an apple
a bowl of oatmeal

Simple, humble meals are good and good for you. They require little energy to put together and they are low cost. Also, they are made from grocery staples.

I don't believe in making big announcements about changes in your kitchen like "we are eating less meat" or "I'm going to stop buying chips." Just do it and see how it goes. If you say it out loud you will definitely get push back.
...

Questions, thoughts? Are you happy with your grocery spending?
Do you feel like you waste food?  If so, why do you think that is?