Tomorrow is the last day of school. This was a grueling year with my children in preschool, elementary, middle and high school. I’m worn out and looking forward to accomplishing not much over the summer. We haven’t even got a family reunion on our agenda. Over the last couple of years we have done “Texas Tuesday”. Our family goes on outings or day trips to explore the massive state that we live in. It has been a fantastic way to try new things and see some amazing sights. It sort of makes up for the fact that a nice vacation hasn’t really been affordable over the last couple of years.

It seems like summer means one thing for my kids, though: lots of screen time. (That is what we call the collective electronic genre that includes computers, TV and video games.) I don’t want my kids to fritter away their summer in front of a glowing blue box. But it is a time to have fun. And that’s what is fun to many kids. I’ve spoken to friends about what they’ll be doing with their kids’ free time. While there are some camps and swimming lessons sprinkled in there, most people I know are already getting frustrated with the amount of time kids want veg and do nothing.

One of my friends is doing a “no TV til 6pm” thing. It sounds good but in our hot climate we have to stay indoors or in the water from about 2-6.. The evening is when we can finally get outdoors again. I like the concept behind it, though.

Being a policewoman is also not what I want to spend my summer doing. I don’t want to hound my kids (more than I normally do, that is) about what they can’t do. I want summer to be fun for me too.

I have all sorts of lofty ideas about the children working on schoolwork over the summer, or developing all sorts of new artistic skills. But I do know that I lack motivation many days.

So I appeal to you, vast network of mothers, teachers and even a few fathers; how do I make my summer a good one? What have you found to work as far as screen time goes? (and how to keep away the zombie children who would sit and watch their siblings play video games for hours. How is that even fun?) Do you have rules for snacks? Having friends over? Have you tried anything that has totally backfired?

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3. Afternoons of Nothing, part. 2