#224: Camp Mommy - Planning a Simple Summer

Summer is here — and this year, we’re embracing a slower, simpler rhythm. In today’s episode, I’m sharing how I plan our “camp mommy” summers with four little kids: creating gentle structure without overscheduling ourselves, organizing outings, simplifying meals, planning around swim lessons and library trips, and preparing our home for a calmer season. If you’re hoping for a cozy, manageable summer at home with your kids, this episode is for you. 🌾☀️🧺

www.daraboxer.com

Transcript

Why We Chose A Slow Summer

Dara Boxer 0:00

Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode. It's really hard to believe that summer is here already. Wasn't I just recording an episode about how to survive the rest of February? So I'm recording during the very last week of preschool for my three-year-old, and my five and seven-year-old still have a few weeks left of kindergarten and first grade. But then that's it. We have nine whole weeks of summer. And this year we decided to do a really slow summer. Not packed, not overscheduled, not you know, 14 different summer camps and a color-coded schedule like we did last year. Just slow, um, a lot more relaxed and definitely more camp mommy vibes over here. But even a laid-back summer still needs some structure. So today's episode is all about how I plan our summer this year as a stay-at-home mom with four little kids between the ages of one and seven, and how I'm trying to create a season that feels manageable, fun, very restful, and also realistic. Because, you know. So if you're staring down the barrel of summer break, wondering how you're going to survive it, I think this episode could be for you. Hello everyone, and welcome to the Raw on the Cooked, a weekly podcast that provides simple routines around the home plus raw and honest book reviews. My name is Dara. I'm a Midwestern stay-at-home mom to four young kids, and I thrive on simplicity. So the main reason that I'm looking forward to a slow summer is honestly because the school year is just such a grind. And I know that if you're a parent listening to this, you probably understand exactly what I mean when I say that it's just crazy. Like for us, waking up the kids at 7 a.m., breakfast on the table by 7.15, lunches packed, water bottles filled, snacks packed, backpacks ready, teeth brushed, shoes on. Somehow everyone is out the door by 7:45, clean the kitchen, start the laundry. I mean, it it's just a lot, and that is just for my older two kids. And so, no, we are not doing summer camp all summer long, where I basically continued the exact same routine with just slightly different pickup times. No thanks. No thank you. Although I will say we did sign the kids up for one week of morning camp in June because the classes were honestly too good to pass up. But beyond that, I really wanted our summer to feel slower. And we are doing swim lessons three mornings a week with our babysitter, but it's on my schedule and it starts at the extremely civilized hour of 10 a.m. Thank you very much. Because apparently, what I've learned about myself over the years is that I really love slow mornings. That's it. That's that's my truth. Uh, so I'm gonna live it this summer because

Reflecting On What Actually Worked

Dara Boxer 2:56

I can. Um, so before I actually sit down and plan out our summer, the first thing I always do is if you guys have listening, been listening to my podcast for a while, you know it's reflection. I look back over the last few months and ask what's working, what's not working, what needs tweaking, what goals still make sense, and what goals should just be deleted altogether. And then I like to look back at last summer too. And this is the part that is surprisingly helpful every single time because looking at photos and my planner from last year jogs my memory about places we loved going, things the kids really enjoyed, outings that were worth it, and also the things that are absolutely not worth the effort. So I will start making lists, um, different lists like indoor playplaces to visit when it's one of those really, really hot, humid, sticky days, or it's raining. Uh, I will look into outdoor spots uh on really nice, hot, but still tolerable days, playgrounds we loved, splash pads, nature centers, museums, anywhere that just feels manageable with a gaggle of children. And

Big Rocks And Weekly Outings

Dara Boxer 4:09

then I open up my calendar and figure out exactly how many weeks of summer we actually have. And from there, I sort of work backwards. First, I plug in our big rocks, like the non-negotiables. So for us, that's the swim lessons that we're doing on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for most of the summer. And then I'm gonna plug in the camp dates, and then after that, I start loosely assigning ideas for Tuesdays and Thursdays, and those sort of become our outing days. And you guys know, of course, Saturday is our Sabbath, and so we are not doing anything on those days, and that is my built-in rest. Thank you, God, for putting that in the pattern and habit of creation. Like how what a gift! So thank you. Um, so and then you know, Sundays are usually tagged for like family days, which is great where my husband can join in too. Which brings me to another list I write out, which is a list of bigger family activities that we want to do for the summer. So for us this year that includes berry picking, which is something we do every single summer, going to at least one baseball game, Go Cardinals, and our favorite summer creek outing. It's about an hour drive from us and completely worth it every time. Um, and I don't necessarily schedule every detail right away, but I at least want them written down somewhere so the summer doesn't suddenly come to an end. And I realize we never did any of the things that we talked about. So sort of like having it there that I can refer back to and kind of make uh decisions on the I don't want to say on the fly, but like you know what I mean, like a little loosey-goosey.

Decluttering Without A Full Overhaul

Dara Boxer 5:44

Um, and another thing that I am building into our summer is uh continuing on with small decluttering projects, like nothing huge, but uh I know that summer is a really good time to slowly continue chipping away at little areas of the home because the pace is a little different and there's some more downtime than other times of the year and whatever. So I am assigning small projects to different weeks like the pantry, like the fridge and the freezer, the laundry room, the storage space. Oh my gosh, the storage space never seems to be clean in the garage. Just little maintenance projects that sort of make basic life easier. Um, and I usually do a good job of like trying to do at least one decluttering project a week. Um, and again, with so many little kids and moving parts and growing bodies, it's just something that you need to do to stay on top of life, right? Otherwise, I I like literally couldn't even imagine what my house would be like if I didn't kind of have a small little decluttering project revolving every week. So, anyway, yes, I am continuing that on in the summer, even though I will have all four kids at home. Um, I just kind of make it happen. And as far as the weekly flow of life, that doesn't change so much just because it's summer, right? Like we all still need to get our groceries, we all still need to meal plan, we still need to fill up the car with gas, the laundry still exists, of course, unfortunately. Um, so I try to anchor our summer around the normal rhythms that we already have instead of reinventing our entire lives for the next nine weeks.

Library Rhythm And Loose Travel Plans

Dara Boxer 7:20

And one thing I want to do is prioritize the library this summer. My incoming first grader and second grader are both reading on their own now, and we've recently found a handful of series that they both genuinely love, and it's just been really great. So I want to keep that spark of reading alive over the summer, and so my goal is a weekly library visit, just nothing fancy, but just keeping the bird the books circulating throughout the house. And um, if you already have your summer travel full fully planned out, you are doing way better than me because I absolutely do not have our summer plans booked at all, like our overnights. I was literally just telling a friend who was trying to make plans with us in September. September. Uh, I like I genuinely cannot think past July right now. And so we, my my family, uh mainly me and my husband, we just seem to be thriving in like last-minute land these days, and that includes overnight trips. So I know we want to do at least two small family getaways this summer, and I have a vague idea of when they'll happen, which honestly just feels sufficient for right now. So those are earmarked, those are again in my like little uh planner to you know just figure out as as the summer goes. Like I maybe we'll get to it, maybe we won't, but like it's there. Uh, and then there are just the small little seasonal things that I know are coming later in the summer that need to get done at some point. So again, jotting this down on my weekly plan. I need to order school supplies whenever we get that list in. Uh, I need to do a back to school clothing shop. Um, I we like to do new sneakers for the kids at the start of the school year, and I know that we're gonna have to book some wellness visits with the pediatrician to get some school paperwork signed off. So, again, these are just things that I know are coming, and I like to handle them in late July or early August. So, just jotting those reminders into my some my summer planning as well, just so I like have it on my radar. And I also know exactly what a lot of our afternoons are going to look like. Uh the baby's gonna be napping, the older kids will probably be outside with the chickens or the water table. Popsicles will absolutely be involved, and that's fine because I have the most delicious, easy, like minimal ingredient recipe. It's just fresh lemon juice, water, and a little bit of honey, and I have no qualms about popsicles at 10 a.m., popsicles at 8 p.m., whatever goes. And it just sounds pretty great to me and my kids too. And

Clothes Swap And Toy Purge

Dara Boxer 10:05

so one thing I already did and highly recommend if you haven't done yet is to just go ahead and go through all the kid clothing. Um, so I pulled out and removed all the winter stuff, I packed away the heavier spring clothing, like those sweaters and long sleeves and pants they probably won't need and swapped out them, swapped them in for bathing suits and shorts and summer pajamas. And so now is a really great time to do that. And while you're at it, toys, toys. Okay, so right now, before summer starts, is actually the perfect time to purge toys, games, puzzles, and books. I went through ours recently and found an entire stock of board games that I just honestly forgot we owned. And now I'm considering maybe doing one new family game every week this summer. We'll see. I don't know. And also, if your home is drowning in tiny plastic toys the way ours is, this is a friendly reminder that those make excellent playground toys or sandbox toys. Because if they get lost outside, who cares? Uh, and honestly, it's one of my favorite forms of upcycling.

Summer Meal Planning Made Easy

Dara Boxer 11:11

And lastly, meal planning. So please do yourself a favor and just simplify your summer meals. Like, create a handful of easy dinners that you can repeat over and over and over again. I rely really heavily on the grill this summer. I rely on hot dogs for dinner. Uh, I rely on fruit bowls just for like filling people up. Like just easy, just easy. I also know that summer means that we're eating dinner very late. I can feel the summer slide happening already. We're in late May at the time of recording, and we're not eating dinner until like 7 p.m. And on the school nights, we usually try to do 5 30. So I can the summer slide, it's a slippery slope. So anyway, but like it's summer, who cares? And again, we don't really need to be anywhere super early most mornings. So, like the kids go to bed late, okay, whatever, right? Like it's just it's summer, it's exciting. But summer is also its own animal, right? Like, it absolutely comes with its own challenges, the house gets messier, the days are definitely longer, everyone is eating constantly, the routines, as I said earlier, just get weird, but it's also a really special season. It really is. And I think that with just a tiny bit of planning, summer can feel a whole lot more peaceful and enjoyable. So if you haven't sat down to think through your summer yet, maybe this is your sign to grab a notebook or you know, your phone and braindump everything. Think through your rhythms, plan loosely, and leave a lot of margin for rest and relaxation because that really is what summer vacations are about. And

The 18 Summers Reminder

Dara Boxer 12:57

then just enjoy it because summers with little kids can be very exhausting, but they are incredibly fleeting. And I think I say this every summer episode I release that uh gosh, it was my daughter's like first summer on Earth, Earthside. And I remember talking to a good mom friend of mine, and she uh was like, we only have 18 summers with them before they like go out into the world and become adults. And I just remember being like, wow, 18, 18 summers. Like, that's it. That's that's it. Maybe they'll join us for future ones, but like they'll be on their own, right? And so, like these summers, not to like put too precious of a spin on it, but you know, you do you only have so many summers with your kids. I don't know, so yeah, like let's make it fun, let's make it special, like popsicles at 10 a.m. Why not? Barefoot in the backyard with a hose, naked in the backyard with a hose. Like, who cares? Like, it's just it's summer. Uh, and I think when your kids are asking for yet another snack for like the 15th time and it's like 1 p.m., like you're gonna miss this someday. So that's all I have for you. Just to enjoy, right? And like the stakes are pretty low. Uh, and if you are the parent this summer who has 14 different summer camps lined up, godspeed. I wish you the best of luck. Anyway, thank you guys for tuning in to another episode, and I'll catch you back here next week.