I've noticed that it is really easy for me to get into a routine of doing all kid stuff all the time when B is at work. When I think of outings, I think of kid-centric things like the zoo, children's museum, playgrounds, etc. I actually have fun at these places, but recently I've been thinking more about what I would do with myself on an average day if I wasn't toting along 2 little people. This question led me to think about what I did with myself before kids during my summer breaks from teaching. Here's what I came up with. These all happened while living in Chicago:
1. Head to Montrose Harbor with it's beautiful views of the skyline and cook some brats on my smokey joe with good friends.
2. Walk around the Lincoln Park Zoo.
3. Go for a bike ride along Lake Michigan.
4. Sit on a blanket near Lake Michigan with a good book.
5. Try new restaurants/cuisines.
6. Walk over to Wrigley Field and get some standing room only tickets for the Cubs.
Looking over this, I realized I can make recapturing these interests my goal for the summer. With a few modifications, I think I can find ways to do the things I enjoy and bring the kids along for the ride--my parenting philosophy in the first place! How quickly we forget our goals when we get lost in day-to-day tasks of every-day life!
Goals (based off above list):
1. Two options for this one. First, head up to one of the gorgeous picnic places in the mountains for dinner together as a family (cookout part optional). Second, take advantage of our big fenced-in yard to have lots of cookouts with friends. I may actually host a regular cookout for the neighborhood moms with their kids--watermelon, a bunch of hot dogs and buns, grilled sweet potato--done!
2. This one's easy. I love zoos & always have. I'll continue to take the boys to the zoo frequently.
3. B has talked me into joining him in road-biking. That will satisfy most of this, but I'm not sure how to include the kids in this one. Perhaps getting a bike trailer (or finding somewhere to rent one) and heading out on mountain trails will do the trick! Andrew's not too into riding his bike yet, but when he is, this will get easier!
4. Since any outing with the boys requires constant supervision, this will be best attempted in our backyard while the boys are entertaining themselves. I can also encourage them to sit with books with me. This is also something I can put on my to-do list when we have our weekly sitter and I can head to one of the beautiful mountain lakes!
5. Hm, I'm going to primarily reserve this as bonding time for B and I without the kids. We LOVE food and we can make it more of a priority to book a sitter and head out for fun dinners. However, it is important to us that we help our kids develop diverse tastes and learn to behave well in restaurants, so we'll let them join in the fun occasionally too. I definitely want to avoid only going to places that serve chicken fingers with the kids. Gross. Thankfully, we are good on this so far.
6. While there is absolutely no substitute for a summer afternoon at Wrigley, I definitely want my kids growing up with an appreciation for The Great American Pastime. Looks like I'll have to plan some trips to see the Utah Bees (minor league team here) with the kids.
Ok--there's my goals for the summer! The funniest thing is that I spend a lot of time reading about all these crafty moms and feeling like such a failure for not painting, sewing, and knitting during my down time. But look--I'm not a failure! I just would rather be outside than crafting! Looks like it's time to give myself yet another slap in the face.
Now, if I do this correctly, I should have 6 follow-up posts as I conquer each of these goals. We'll see!
