How Are You Going to Survive the Summer at Home?

How Are You Going to Survive the Summer at Home?
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For weeks now, I’ve been focused on a particular date: June 9. I had until June 9 to figure out a plan for this summer. June 9 was when my son’s third-grade school year would officially wrap up. June 9 was when the loose schedule we’ve been adhering to—centered around blocks of time for reading, schoolwork, breaks and play—would come to an end. And then, yesterday afternoon, he mentioned that actually, his teacher says they’ll be done with classwork as of Friday. Which is tomorrow.

With my husband and I both working from home and our son learning at home, the routine we implemented in mid-March gave a flow to our days. We weren’t especially strict about it (sure, start your break a little early; go ahead, FaceTime with your buddy), but it took the argument of “now what?” almost entirely out of the equation. I’m not saying it was easy—many days were not— but we had something resembling the defined school/work part of the day and the freedom that typically comes with evenings and weekends.

But now, all of a sudden (before June 9!), he’s going to be on summer break. There will be no schoolwork to complete. Setting up chunks of time when he has to read seems unfair. And yet: summer camps are closed, I’m still working, and he’s looking ahead to a long, boring, lonely summer.

Everyone’s situation is different right now. Many parents are anticipating the moment when the remote learning can finally, mercifully cease for the school year. Some are returning to work as their kids slowly reenter daycares or summer camps. Some areas are opening up pretty widely (I’m lookin’ at you, Florida); others, like mine, are still buttoned up tight. But whatever your situation, chances are this summer is going to look very different from pre-pandemic summers.

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I’m all about finding solutions and coming up with a plan—but I’m struggling with this one. Do I set up a modified, looser, more summer-friendly daily routine? Let him play Minecraft all day? Like literally all day? My in-box is full of pitches from public relations folks touting their expensive virtual summer camps, but dammit, summer camp is not meant to be virtual! It is meant to be outside and active and dirty and crowded.

So, I don’t know; you tell me. If you’re going to be working at home with kids all summer, how do you plan to survive? If you’re transitioning back into the workplace, how are you handling that? If you’re an essential worker who has been chugging along all this time, will summer look any different for you or your kids?

Tell us in the comments how you plan to get through this summer.

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