Summer Break Quality Time With Each Child

My friend, Carol, told me about a wonderful summer tradition she started in her family that I want to share with you.

Each summer, she spends 5 days with each of her children, just the two of them.

She explained her children act differently when she is alone with them. For this reason, she loves to give them quality one-on-one time during their summer break from school.

She has done this for years with each of her children, and they always look forward to creating new memories together.

For each of the 5 days, she follows the same order of events every year.

Quality Time Over 5 Days

Day 1 – Clean Room

They spend their day cleaning the child’s bedroom from top to bottom. Not only do they dust and vacuum, but they also go through their clothes and toys to see what can be donated or thrown away. It’s a complete purge.

Cleaning a room together may not sound fun, but it’s necessary, and they still get to spend that whole day together. The payoff is a clean, organized bedroom! It also teaches her children the lesson that they must do the hard work upfront in order to earn the fun that happens later in the week.

Day 2 – Community Service

On this day, Carol and her child pick a place in their community to volunteer their time. They spend quality time together serving others. Some of the places they have volunteered are at a food bank, a homeless shelter, and an animal shelter.

When it comes to teaching, actions always speak louder than words. Carol gives her children the opportunity to experience for themselves the value and importance of community service.

Day 3 & 4 – Overnight Trip

Carol lets her child pick a place for an overnight trip that’s within driving distance. This gives them a chance to visit attractions in their state or a nearby state. As you can imagine, a parent and child road trip creates lots of opportunities for bonding! (A two-day staycation is a wonderful alternative to an overnight trip!)

Day 5 – Day With a Friend

On the final day, Carol lets her child invite a friend to spend the day with them. Her children love getting to invite their best friend on a fun-filled day! Carol enjoys time with her child while getting to know his or her friend better too.

Don’t you just love Carol’s tradition?! Even if you can’t plan it all in 5 days and you needed to spread it out over several weeks, it would still be worth doing.

I do think it’s important to give children one-on-one time with a parent. Carol’s way of doing it accomplishes that in a memorable tradition that instills some valuable life lessons too!

Spending time with your children is more important than spending money on them.