Summer Planning Meeting

Every year I dream of a Summer Planning Retreat where I take my family away to a condo for a weekend and we plan out our summer. I want us all on the same page and I like my kids to be able to share their opinions and ideas.  The more input they have, the more they are invested. But instead,  we usually end up having several mini-family meetings in our living room as we prepare for summer.

I bust out my  Post-it Easel Pad Paper which is my favorite family meeting tool.   It is basically a giant sticky note. The Post-It Pad Easel Paper allows us to brainstorm on large paper and then stick it anywhere.  The sheets are easy to move around with no damage to the walls.

Here are some topics we discuss at our summer planning meetings:

Summer Chores

Vacations

Summer Bucket List

Summer Goals*

Bored Jar*

Summer Activity Budget*

Summer Menu– I tweak our menu each summer to include a salad night and a fish night.  Basically I just warn the kids and tell them to deal with it.

Daily Schedule- We discuss daily times for exercise, reading, friends, bedtime, chores, TV, quiet time, etc.

Weekly Schedule- We assign different activities to different days.  Here are some ideas: movie day, swimming day, cousin day, cooking day, craft day, library day, park day, field trip day, no technology day, etc.  Of course, we are flexible, but a weekly daily schedule and routine gets us going sometimes.

(* upcoming posts)

Don’t wait until summer is here to start planning.  Start now! Whether you take a weekend away or  just have a few small meetings in your living room or have some conversations in the car on the way to soccer, a little summer planning goes a long way.  And everyone gets a say in summer.