Myra wrote about getting a jump-start on planning summer activities this morning, and it got me to thinking about the challenges of providing for a structured summer with teenagers. I confess that I am one of those single mothers who absolutely dreads those three long months of summer–not only is it tougher for me to stay focused on my own work with the kids out of school, but keeping track of everyone and trying to make sure that there is a good balance between down time and structure is a huge challenge!
For me, the concern is not so much finding activities we can all do together any more, but making sure that I know what everyone is up to, they are being somewhat productive, and keeping everyone out of trouble! If money were no object, I know we could do trips and summer camps and all sorts of other enriching and rewarding teen activities, but since money IS an object, I start getting creative about now (February) and we start having the “What are you thinking about doing this summer?” discussions.
This coming summer, the focus is on either taking classes at summer school, the community center, or the community college–or doing some sort of job or work for pay. I’ve pretty much laid down the law that now that the youngest will be turning 15–everyone is old enough to do something productive and not loll away an entire summer eating, sleeping in and making messes. I’m not making them get jobs, but if they’re not going to do some sort of work, they can take a pottery class, get ahead in school by attending a couple summer school classes or SOMETHING. They call all three definitely do something this summer regardless of whether they whine about it being a “vacation” or not.
I’ve put the bee in their bonnets, plus, I think that they have finally reached an age where they really do want to be doing something that seems more mature and structured. So, work or classes or volunteer work it is for my teenagers this summer. Stay tuned for how the reality actually shakes down…I’ll give you an update in July!