Summer vacation starts now!

Californiablonde

Well-Known Member
I am having mixed feelings about my vacation. Yes I get to sleep in (besides waking up difficult child 1 for the bus for summer school) and yes I don't have to work, but I will be stuck at home with two difficult children for two months. Worst part is that since I got my license restricted, I can't drive anywhere so we will be stuck at home. Thank goodness we have a pool so that will at least kill an hour or two out of the day. My mom will be picking us up one day a week to go grocery shopping and sometimes she will be taking us to the beach. Other than that, we will be doing a whole bunch of nothing. I feel like I lost my freedom. At least I've been getting to drive to work for the last six weeks, but now I don't have a reason to drive so I can't take the car anywhere. Hopefully both difficult children will be on sorta somewhat good behavior and won't terrorize each other too much. I have decided to keep giving my son his Focalin during the summer so his hyperactivity will at least be somewhat reduced. Anyway, time for me to shut down and head home. Wish me luck.
 

FlowerGarden

Active Member
Do you live in an area where you can ride a bike places to do things like a park or to the library? Have a picnic in your backyard and sneak up on the kids with water balloons. I'm sure others will come along with some ideas to help you keep the kids occupied.
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
Old-fashioned paper-mache... the one done with flour-glue and shredded newsprint... that you can dig in up to your elbows just to mix glue with paper. It ends up almost like soft clay, and then you sculpt just like clay. Work over a balloon for bigger objects. Takes days and days to dry in the sun, and then they can be painted. Lots of "work" but lots and lots of FUN... and it takes tons of time to do it.

If difficult children will cooperate, hire yourselves out as a weeding team working on other people's gardens - and spend the money earned on trivial fun stuff that the kids want.

Here, there are volunteer opportunities where for situations like yours (can't drive...), they will PICK YOU UP and bring you home in return for multiple hands-worth of help... food bank, for example, or a soup kitchen, or a fundraiser for some charity (one charity here puts on a variety show that is really popular, and needs volunteers to usher, take tickets, work the refreshment stand, stage hands, etc.... they will arrange transport for groups of 3 or more... and every volunteer gets a free ticket to the show, as there are multiple shows).
 

Californiablonde

Well-Known Member
Oh, and I will be doing my community service once a week, too. I will be working at a soup kitchen for eight hours once a week. I'm kinda looking forward to it. The kids and I have relied on the church for food a couple of times and we used to be homeless, so I feel like I will be sort of giving back. I'm hoping to meet some nice people there.
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
If you live in an area that has a pool, then maybe you can also walk to something like a playground or park. Maybe walk to the library if there is one. Get some books. I would find some good old fashioned fun. Sidewalk chalk. Balloons, bubbles. Heck, go online and find cool craft stuff.
 

LittleDudesMom

Well-Known Member
Trust me, you can find all kinds of things to do without transportation. The important thing is to keep a positive attitude. If the kids feel your "oh, woe is me stuck at home with my kids all summer with nothing to do", they will react just as negatively as you are now. Get creative and change your outlook -- you never know what you will discover!

Sharon
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
Very true Sharon. Many times we were without a car simply due to finances but we had to make the best of it and find stuff to do. Thankfully at the time we lived at the beach and the kids were young enough that parks and the beach were fun. If I had to walk to a store from here, I would be in big time trouble. LOL. Here, though, there is a small van one can call in advance for a small fee.
 

Californiablonde

Well-Known Member
Well unfortunately my kids are too old for the park, bubbles, and balloons. I have a teen and a preteen. My son is addicted to the computer and pretty much wants nothing to with me. My daughter is practically glued to her cell phone. When they were younger we used to hang out at the pool for several hours a day (we live in an apartment, no backyard) but now that they're older they only want to spend a half hour there then they're bored. I'm going stir crazy right now. I'm not in to daytime TV much. There is a liquor store and a Big Lots within walking distance, so we do have a couple of places to walk to. My mom will be picking us up about twice a week so I can go to my community service one day and go to the beach another day. Unfortunately my kids aren't in to the beach much either. We spend an hour there before they get bored and want to come home. They used to be so much fun when they were younger. Now it seems like they want nothing to do with me. I'm home with them all day long but I still feel so lonely. Sigh..
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
Find something really enjoyable for YOU to do. Teens feed off of parent negativity. They need to see you enjoying yourself... who knows, they might even want to join you.

Cook up something different? Bake a hard-to-make treat? Sew some new curtains?
 

Californiablonde

Well-Known Member
Well I like to read so that's what I'll be doing with a lot of my time. I have a couple of mystery novels that I haven't had the time or energy to read during the work week so I will reading them this summer. difficult child 2 shares my love for reading and he has a couple of books of his own that he's been working on. Unfortunately difficult child 1 hates to read even though I've taken her to the library several times and gotten her books she has picked out on her own. She loves to draw so that's what she's been doing with a lot of her time. It's been a slow summer so far but we'll make it through. Still looking forward to going back to work though.
 
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