I’ve come upon several conversations recently, see here, and here, where some of my favorite people on the internet are sharing what is saving their lives this summer. These lists are so fun for me that I interrupt my summer break from blogging to join the conversation.

What’s Saving my Life this Summer

1. Popsicles

My kids ask for these EVERY. DAY. And while I try to help them understand that it’s a special treat, I have given in almost every day. But it’s been HOT and because the late afternoon sun beats on our house, making the witching hour even more unbearable, these popsicles are indeed saving our lives. They’re a welcome alternative to the yelling, whining, and pervasive hangriness that accompanies those few hours before dinner.

2. Taking things week by week

In years past, I’ve either over-committed us to activities, or left too much unplanned space in our days during the summer. This year, I tried to find a better balance. I signed us up for swim lessons twice a week rather than everyday, along with a once a week dance lesson. We also are only attending one week long VBS; and we have only one week long summer trip planned. I have found that alternating week long activities with weeks that have only a few things on the caldendar has worked well for us. So far, we haven’t been too bored or too over-scheduled.

3. Reading The Chronicles of Narnia

*Affiliate alert, because of course, I have to recommend these. Click here to read more about what it means when I include affiliate links.

My kids have fallen hard for the movie, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, so earlier this Spring we began reading the book. The kids enjoyed it so much we have decided to read the series, starting with The Magician’s Nephew. This has brought new life to our read-aloud time, giving me a much needed break from the same few children’s books. I have to say, after almost 7 years in, I’m ready to move on from the children’s books stage. Don’t get me wrong, they’re great! But it’s fun to break it up with something I can enjoy too. We are reading The Magician’s Nephew every night before bed. It’s a great way to end the night and keep the kids reading.

4. Spray on sunscreen

So I’m probably the last one to the party on this one. But it has changed my life forever. Never going back.

5. Yoga

After listening to The Lazy Genius talk about exercise routines this Spring, I realized that I need to identify the exercise related activities that I love doing and let the rest go. As I thought about it, I immediately knew that Zumba and Yoga were it. My friend, Stacie, the same one who shared about what it’s like to be an 8 on the Enneagram, posted about this yoga series on Instagram back in January so I looked it up on YouTube and started doing it. I have to admit, I hurt my sciatica pretty bad the first day, so I went through YouTube and found some Yoga for Beginners for a few weeks before restarting Adriene’s TRUE series. I love the way moving my body through the Yoga poses feels and Adriene is very good about reminding us to be gentle and kind to our bodies throughout the practice instead of pushing too hard. The kids will usually join me for some of the poses as well and enjoy participating when I turn it on.

6. Swapping child care with a friend

Since I’ve started my Spiritual Direction training with Selah this Spring, I have a lot of assigned reading and written assignments. When trying to figure out how in the world I would find time to focus on this, I asked a friend of mine if she’d like to swap child care. She was delighted to oblige!

7. Slow mornings

This is the thing I missed the most since Jed (my oldest) started school. Now with summer in full swing, I am relishing the slow mornings again. Now that the kids can (mostly) feed themselves, it’s even sweeter than before. Hallelujah for lazy summer days. Amen?

What about you? What’s saving your life this summer? I’d love to hear. Share with me in the comments.

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