I love lists; to-do lists, grocery lists, and packing lists.
I get an overt sense of accomplishment and joy when I cross something I have done off a list. As my school year fades away and summer break approaches, my to-do lists shift from tasks relating to grading, planning, and PPT meetings to plans with my girls, lingering house projects, and my ever-growing book list that I hope to tackle.
My favorite list of all, though, is the list that I make with my daughters.
It is our Summer Bucket List. It’s all the places we want to visit, people we want to hang out with, and activities we want to do over the summer, both big and small!
I am not claiming to be a super mom. I don’t plan each of our days out but rather love the idea of the bucket list guiding us through, giving some direction on days when we have nothing to do. My kids will go to a few camps and continue to attend preschool for a few last weeks before kindergarten starts, but we will have plenty of those slow, lazy summer days where we can look to our bucket list to give us something fun to do.
My own childhood summer breaks hold some of my sweetest memories. I attended camp, but there was always time to swim at the lake, go on endless bike rides with my friends, and catch fireflies as the sun went down. I also want to help my girls build those simple memories during their summer breaks. It is so easy to get caught up in trying to fit in everything that we forget that it’s often the little things our kids enjoy the most.
Our current bucket list is a work in progress at the moment, but here are some of the things my six and four-year-old are hoping to do this summer:
- Bake brownies
- Go to the nail salon
- Bring flowers to our friends
- Go to the playground
- Swim underwater
- Go to the library
- Visit the bakery for a cookie
- Golf together
- Get new earrings
- Dye my hair pink and blue (we’ll see about this one)
I love the simplicity and innocence in my daughters’ hopes for the summer. I also love that they are all low-pressure dreams. It will be easy to say yes, and not feel like I have to organize a circus show to make them happy.
While visits to the library and bakery, and maybe a little hair dye, are what they are most excited about, I am looking forward to making sweet memories with my girls, and enjoying our days together, one simple moment at a time.
