21: DIY Summer Camp at Home for Working Single Moms

Today we’re talking about something every working single mom starts stressing about around May and June… summer break.

Because the kids are home, the school structure disappears, camps can be expensive, and somehow we’re still expected to work full-time and keep everything running smoothly.

So today we’re sharing DIY at-home summer camp ideas that help your kids stay engaged while you still get your work done.  We’re talking about simple, affordable, low-prep activities that give kids structure and independence.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

And welcome back to Single Mom Honey, the podcast dedicated to single moms with a focus on health, money, and everything in between. Alright, I'm Kway, I cover the health. And I'm Aisha, I cover money. So, what are we gonna be talking about today? Is something every working single mom starts to stress about. And it's around.

SPEAKER_02 0:18

Especially if you're working from home. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 0:21

Yeah, so it's around that time. We're getting around May and June. And it's among us. Tiptoeing behind us. I'm trying to run, but can't you see that?

SPEAKER_02 0:32

We're talking about registering for the yeah, registering for the summer marathon. Um that which is summer vacation for the kids.

SPEAKER_00 0:43

Yeah, summer break. I know what you did last summer. What? Nothing. Just like this summer coming up. But we're gonna try to change that. We're gonna give out DIY summer camp at home for working single moms. This is the boat I'm in currently, right now, Clay. Because I looked up different summer camps for kids. What? How much? I don't have a thirdborn. But you would like to have that on the extra kidney. Oh, okay. They'll take that too. Say what? You got an extra kidney. I guess so, because the one that I priced that I've really enjoyed, my oldest son was able to attend it for multiple years, but just not as of lately, you know, because of something we currently talked about child support. I'm not receiving it, so I can't afford to pay for that on top of everything else. It is sixteen hundred dollars a month for two kids. Yeah, that's wild. Sixteen hundred dollars a month for two kids from June, July, and August. And I think they were.

SPEAKER_02 1:41

Is it even a full day? Because sometimes it'll still be sixteen hundred dollars a month for the two kids, and it only be from like nine to one.

SPEAKER_00 1:50

Well, it's from eight thirty to three thirty.

SPEAKER_02 1:54

Oh, okay. That's not bad.

SPEAKER_00 1:55

It's still not the whole weekday, though. So you can do before care. You go pay for it, and you do aftercare. That's additional $50. I mean, I'm sorry. Before care is additional $100 a month. Aftercare is additional $100 a month. So let's add on to $200. That wasn't no, it's $50 a week. So it's additional $200 for before care, additional $200 for aftercare.

SPEAKER_02 2:16

So like you need an additional job. Yeah. And I'm about to send a lunch for both of them.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

They don't even have a chance to get away from the You have to pay for lunch.

SPEAKER_02 2:32

What do they teach them there? Like are they come back with like survival skills? Like what happens? I want to know.

SPEAKER_00 2:38

They do teach them swimming. So they have swimming every single day. They have swimming classes, they have yoga, they do excellent um field trips. It's like one of the best summer camps, though. Like, I'm not even gonna lie. They are they are worth the money. It's just I ain't got okay. So I won't even down talk that, but it's a fun ass summer camp. Um, because you know, kids are very expensive. We talked about it before. They say it's $200,000 per kid. I'm gonna say about a million per kid from zero to 18. Because what you mean $2,000 a month, and that's every summer. And that's a millionaire yet.

SPEAKER_02 3:10

Are you a millionaire yet? I'm not.

SPEAKER_00 3:12

No, I'm trying to get that girl, and I'm going to.

SPEAKER_02 3:14

I got three kids, I need to be like, and then I still got to take care of me. Ooh, that's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 3:20

That's funny. Take care of you.

unknown 3:21

Huh.

SPEAKER_02 3:22

Hmm. It's all right. So the kids are home when summer vacation hits. That means the school structure disappears. Camps are super expensive. And sometimes, somehow, some way, we are expected to work full time, entertain, and keep everything running smoothly over the summer. And making sure you're getting your water intake. And and your exercise and your sleep. Oh yeah. Yeah. And answering to your name about 3,659,332.73 times each day. Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom. Like I get over. When did your kids start calling you mom instead of mommy? How what age? Actually, they say mama still.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

So that your kids never said mommy. It was always mama?

SPEAKER_02 4:14

Um, they do combos. Um sometimes I get into this zone where I have to tune everybody out. And once I come to, well, sometimes if they if I don't answer right away, because they have already called my name in that great amount of times that I said before, I get messages on my phone like, mom, woman who has birthed me, mommy.

SPEAKER_00 4:38

Oh my gosh, kids are so dramatic.

SPEAKER_02 4:44

Yeah, um, I think it depends on how they feel that day, would they would Aaron called me?

SPEAKER_00 4:48

My kids still call me mommy, but they're four and seven. So they said mommy, mommy.

SPEAKER_02 4:53

Mama coming from an 18-year-old. Uh-huh. From a 13-year-old, and from a 10-year-old. Mommy. Mommy, when when they're no, it's just it's all together. I just hear it all together. Oh. All right. So we both work from home. Yeah. So trying to uh for me, trying to do labs, talk to patients, um, do consults, checking emails, responding to people, having all these kids. There's a multiplier after three, like I always say. There's a multiplier after two. I feel like it's like a they gotta eat, they got, they need, they bored. I ain't bored. I got shit to do. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 5:33

Oh my gosh, the bored, the statements be getting me. And like you said, like seriously, working from home is a huge benefit. I will never go against the opportunity for anyone, especially single moms, to have to uh be able to work from home. It is a game changer to that work life balance that is absolutely necessary, you know. But like you said, when you're trying to answer emails, someone's yelling, or you're in a meeting, a team meeting, or you have to present, and then all of a sudden, you find it is in the background. You'd be like, you know, he took my toy.

SPEAKER_02 6:11

He did this and he did that, or hearing them fight in the background, just like, I just I I give up sometimes. Sometimes I just be like, oh my God, you know, I'm not because I don't even care.

SPEAKER_00 6:22

For every meeting, listen. Nobody bother me. Nobody comes to the door unless somebody's bleeding and your head is in your hand. It's the only time you're gonna bother me during this meeting. You understand? It better be quiet. What up? Go use the bathroom now. Get your snacks now before I even get into this call. Because I get into this call and I hear mommy or dun dun, we're gonna have a problem. You understand? It's always that baby light. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:44

I feel like, you know, when they are home in the summer, as soon as I close my office door or get on a call, that's when every fucking question needs to be answered.

SPEAKER_00 6:59

And your kids are old enough that they should be there.

SPEAKER_02 7:01

They're old enough. I'd be like, what is wrong with y'all? Like my oldest, it's like, it's just in her. If I start on a phone call, she starts singing. Like, it's almost like in an internal cry, look at me, mom. I am here.

SPEAKER_00 7:15

Yeah, no.

SPEAKER_02 7:16

No. And then when I be like, I give her that look, you know, that look you just gave her?

SPEAKER_00 7:20

You just look like this. Yeah, that's like the third.

SPEAKER_02 7:25

I didn't even notice. They've been doing it for so long, they forget.

SPEAKER_00 7:28

Yeah, so today we're going to be sharing DIY at-home summer camp ideas that help your kids stay engaged while you get your work done.

SPEAKER_02 7:37

All right. And the goal here, again, is not perfection. I mean, you don't have to have a million bucks to keep them happy. Um, we're talking about simple, affordable, low prep activities that give the kids structure and independence so we can do our jobs and succeed during the summer because they still gotta eat.

SPEAKER_00 7:55

Exactly. So one thing that helped me mentally was refraining summer as home camp. When kids hear kidding, like, we're about to have a party, we're about to turn up six, seven. Six, seven.

SPEAKER_02 8:08

Oh god, I can't. My friends have been.

SPEAKER_00 8:11

I'll be by myself doing that sometime. I'll be by myself.

SPEAKER_02 8:13

No, okay. I will admit I do be doing this shit, but yeah, I can't say the words anymore because my daughter has played it out. My 13-year-old, it's like knock knock, who's there? Six, seven. I'm like, oh my God. Like all day long. I can't take it. It it's not even relevant to anything. Hey, mom, guess what? Six, seven, butt. Like, I'd be like, oh my God. Yeah, I can't take it. All right. So kids love the word camp. I get it. Uh it makes everything feel exciting instead of being stuck at home.

SPEAKER_01 8:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:43

But I feel like you can have camp right in your backyard, inside your house, in another room, on another floor.

SPEAKER_00 8:49

As long as you have something structured and like you said, prepped, you can do it literally every week. So you could do a weekly thing at home. You can do a science camp. I'm a nerd. I love science. I love the fact that both my children love science as well. Like we enjoy watching this one channel on YouTube, Dr. Binox. You ever hear that?

SPEAKER_02 9:09

No, I haven't.

SPEAKER_00 9:10

Okay, it's a cartoon and they teach you about just different facts. It could be science, it could be myths, it could be whatever, and they debunk things, and it's just really, really cool. And it's able, it's it's it's uh my four-year-old is able to follow along with it. So he loves it. He got both myself and my mom on it. So my mom be like, girl, I was watching Dr. Binox. Did you know the universe? Like, it's really educational, but it's fun. Um, also, you can do summer camp, I mean science camp, art camp. I'm a very creative person. One of my kids blood more creative than the other, but they still like doing different things, like um nature camp. It's all kinds of stuff happening around us. You know what? What I think it would be very important.

SPEAKER_02 9:51

Like, I feel like there's a lack of sex ed now in society, but I think that would be a good thing for them to know their bodies and work on that during camp for a week. Know their bodies, what places people shouldn't be touching and oh, absolutely. All the right names, you know, run scenarios in the backyard, you know. I mean, there's a lot of things you can do. And then for our teenagers, we should be talking about prep and STIs and all that other stuff.

SPEAKER_00 10:17

Yes. Cooking camp, my oldest believes that he's a chef, you know, like he loves coming up and doing different things for himself. I haven't got to the point I'm comfortable with him doing with the stove, but I feel like this summer is gonna be about that time that he'll be about eight, and that's the age I was when I was cooking breakfast. So I'm gonna start offering teaching him.

SPEAKER_02 10:35

That's a good idea. But if you're gonna offer cooking camp, you gotta offer cleaning camp too.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

Oh, girl, please, that's a part of cooking. That goes without saying that goes without saying. And adventure camp. So we have uh really good um parks around where we are that we go discover a different park probably every week of the summer because there are so many around here. And I think that's definitely gonna be a part of it. It gives us a chance to be not only get some vitamin D from the sun, get some fresh air, get away from the house since we're at home camp, but also for them to see different animals and stuff that we may not see in our particular neighborhood. So I'm looking forward to planning hikes, you know, for us, bike rides for us, and just different things. Something your kids feel like they're part of something special. Like, what's what we're we doing this week, mom? You know, they look forward to like creating a little um chart with a absolutely call something board poster board with a poster board so they know what they're looking forward to each week.

SPEAKER_02 11:36

Oh, that's a good idea. Cause I'm about to say, um, you used to play basketball. I mean, having your own sports camp because the price of sports camp is like teach them different sports each week or focus on it, you know, you know. Cause I could do running, we could do bike riding, like you said. My son's into soccer. Listen, I don't know all the rules, but I could run a soccer camp in my backyard.

SPEAKER_00 12:00

Right. Something. We gotta keep them engaged, but it's good for us as well. It exactly our minds out of the monotony of the day of doing the same job every single day. Over. But one thing I will say I love about summer is that the work day seems to go fast. And then by the time you're over, I want to play. Because I'm like, I've been seeing them play all day long, or yeah, I'm sitting here stuck in front of this box. When I close that laptop, I'm like, okay, so what y'all want to do? Am I gonna go to the park? Playground? Something like and sometimes they'd be like, because they're in their little board moods, and then all of a sudden, yeah, let's go, you know. So I like that.

SPEAKER_02 12:33

I agree. And really the beauty of it is when you're at home, you don't have to feel every minute. You don't have to have like crazy amounts of structure. Um, it'll help build your kids like independence, and you know, they can really thrive and become independent thinkers, problem solve. Um, and they may also help you create activities to do for summer camp.

SPEAKER_00 12:58

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 12:59

It's it's gonna inspire them. And then you guys will be like feeding off each other.

SPEAKER_00 13:03

So yeah, and it takes away the pressure. Like, I'm not doing no camp, I'm not doing no 1,600 a month dollar camp at home. Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 13:11

Not at all.

SPEAKER_00 13:12

I'm gonna do what I can, what I got. So it's gonna be a loose structure of the day. Yes. Right?

SPEAKER_02 13:19

And then, so I guess it would be good to create like a daily summer camp schedule.

SPEAKER_00 13:26

So they know what to expect because children needs, they need to have structure. Yes. I think that's where I felt before in some summers is that I didn't create a structure because I was like, ooh, I'm free, I ain't gotta get up at a certain time and get them ready. It's like that is a great for all of us.

SPEAKER_02 13:41

Yeah. That is the greatest feeling ever. Like every time they have Easter break, I was like, I just was saying last week, I said, God created this break for me.

SPEAKER_00 13:50

Because you know you got the home stress too.

SPEAKER_02 13:52

You're getting close and closer to the end of this uh Yeah, and then you also get closer to something like I got to get them up because every day, somehow I forget in my mind, I be like, I'm gonna sleep in until it's time for work. And then I hear that alarm go off, like, oh, I got to get them up for school.

SPEAKER_00 14:09

Yeah, and if you want to know about how you can help your morning routine, go ahead and listen to our mama morning routine episode.

SPEAKER_02 14:16

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 14:17

All right, so let's talk about a simple daily rhythm, okay, that works for working moms. First morning, energy burn, okay? This is something that I feel like I already have done, but I didn't really put it into a structure per se. Dance party. I turn on Alexa, let me not be too loud because she be in my business. But I turn her on. Let's do a quick dance party. I share with you my um playlist that I have when we had a Saturday night dance party. My kids are like, okay, because I'll just randomly turn on music and just start dancing because I just need a move or whatever. Um, we have backyard play. Thankfully, I do have a fence day backyard and it's rather large, so we're able to have relay races and um stuff like that. I have not done an obstacle course, they create their own obstacle course with the course.

SPEAKER_02 15:06

I like that idea.

SPEAKER_00 15:07

Yeah, and then um bike riding. So one of my goals this summer is to teach both of my kids to ride a bike without trainer wheels. Okay. I have not done that.

SPEAKER_02 15:16

So I was able to do that. Like I felt like for a while I was failing as a mom. Girl. So Coco and Carter, uh, I want to say maybe two years ago is when I taught them how to ride a bike.

SPEAKER_00 15:33

I remember you sent me the video.

SPEAKER_02 15:35

Yes. And I was like, this is late in the game. He was eight and she was ten, right? And um, I was like, oh my God, I haven't taught them. But it was actually like a perfect time to teach them because they were ready and they wanted to be on the bike. So, and they needed to learn how to ride the bike prior to going back to their uh school because they have a biking class that they have to take, right? To make them responsible citizens. What? So I had never heard of it. Driving to work all the time, maybe take the bike to cut back on, you know, polluting the earth. Oh wow, that's cool. I like that. So anyway, within a week, they were both fully riding a bike. It's just like consistency, and it wasn't like I had to be there all day, but you know, their uh motor skills and their balance, all of that was more so together, I would say, around eight and ten. You know, now kids learn younger than that, but it was like uh 10 speed when I was five. Well, that's that's great. That is absolutely great. And I think I was riding younger too, but like sometimes I feel like as a single mom, there's like little things. Sometimes people can share the load, or you might have more support at one time or another, or depending on where you live. Like where I lived, I could ride on my street. Right here, I gotta take them to a parking lot to go ride.

SPEAKER_00 16:55

And also, I think it was the times, it was the 90s. We didn't have tablets, we didn't have, you know, we had a Sega or something like that, but we weren't in the house all day screaming and everything else. Like we had no choice but to go outside. And if you work or ride or you're gonna get left behind by your friends. So I would ride my brother's bike, and I'm all I guess I need to buy her a bike. She rides his 10 speed as far. And then I got my own bike.

SPEAKER_02 17:17

Yeah, so we all got bikes, and it's wonderful to take a bike ride with the kids.

SPEAKER_01 17:21

And, you know, I gotta get myself a bike.

SPEAKER_02 17:27

Listen, most importantly, I will say this when you're going outside in the summer, if you do have allergies, uh, make sure you pre-medicate before you go outside so it doesn't take away from the day. Because me and all my kids are allergic to grass, cats, dogs, trees, all types of things. I think we're not from this planet. That's true. That'd be like aliens. I know, but if I, you know, pre-medicate before we go outside, we can have a great time. So just remember that. Take the allergy medicine before you go out or before you're doing like um any exercise. If your kids have asthma, make sure you pre-treat them with their um rescue inhaler. It should last up to like four hours while they're outside exercising, or you know, you don't want to be going to the ER for asthma attacks and things like that. But if you pre-medicate, then you run a lower risk of those things happening. All right, so one of the great things about burning off energy is the fact that if you get them early in the day, you burn out that energy, get them running around playing early. By the time you get that afternoon meeting, that Zoom meeting, they'll be a little bit more cute.

SPEAKER_00 18:31

They'll be rebuilding, maybe rebooting. They'll be uh charging for the next day.

SPEAKER_02 18:35

Yeah, I'll be charging on the charging station. Or maybe you can get through your meeting. But if it's in the morning, only God knows. Maybe let them sleep in.

SPEAKER_00 18:42

Yeah. So how about after the morning energy burn, a midday creative camp activity? Now, this could be your theme activity of the day. I think that's great because it gives them the chance to be independent and use their imaginations and their hands. That's a good plus.

SPEAKER_02 19:00

Yeah, and just make sure they're age appropriate. Like, you know, for my kids, I do try to make sure they read 25 to 30 minutes a day and write me down a little um summary of what they read. Wrote. They write me down a little summary of what they read. Um, and then you could also have like, I don't know if you remember back in the day where we had like book it. If they get so many books during the summer and read them and provide the summary, they get a prize.

SPEAKER_00 19:24

Yeah. So um, remember a personal pay and pizza.

SPEAKER_02 19:28

Yes, personal pay and pizza. Yeah. Um, that's a good thing. You know, they can earn that incentive and maybe you take them out every two weeks, depending on how many books they got, and they earn some tokens or whatever, whatever their place to go is.

SPEAKER_00 19:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:42

Um, and then it also helps when they write those summaries, you know, keep up with their their English, their grammar, and you know, keep them prepared for the next school. And like for younger kids, you know, if they're doing puzzles, um, you can also get uh grade level activity books for the kids to so they can stay focused on their math or science or you know, just little science experiments in the house that you can. I mean, there's so many fun things you can do.

SPEAKER_00 20:11

So I heard that it's good for children to listen to audiobooks because it works the brain, because not only are you hearing the words, but you're imagining the picture as well. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 20:25

It I think it's good for adults too.

SPEAKER_00 20:28

Who likes audiobooks?

SPEAKER_02 20:30

I mean I can multitask with an audiobook. Like I can be sitting here and talking about the video.

SPEAKER_00 20:35

I listen to a podcast or I listen to a video on YouTube or something like that, but audiobooks bother me. I don't know why. I just feel like that's cheating to me. I want to read the book and turn the page. I don't even like reading digitally on my phone or my tablet. That I don't know. I'm not sure what it is. First of all, it's old school. You're old, so that's like I need to see the bent pages. I need to see, you know, my bookmarks in there that I can see how much I need to go versus what I already did. Like that that matters to me.

SPEAKER_02 21:03

So, like for me, I can multitask with an audio book because there's always something else I gotta do. So if I have my head built on and I need to clean up my yard or fold laundry, I can actually still be technically reading the book and getting the other things done. Cause sometimes, like, I don't often get a time just to sit down with girl, that's what I'm about to say.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

That's why you know more books than me, because I don't have time to sit and read them, but also I don't want to listen to them. So I'm in a weird spot. But yeah, that's why you probably get more books than me. So after the afternoon, I mean the uh, you know, midday creative camp activity at times. My mother is a huge advocate. But if the kids know when they say quiet time, when she says it's quiet time, they'd be like but they don't say nothing back. They hold it in. They'd be like, you know, like they get to the point where they can have some time to themselves. And that's usually when they stop picking each other too. That's when that's when they know to bring down the energy levels, you know, like my mom would either Curtains to have it a little bit darker, especially if they were doing nap time, but it just gives them a chance to reprocess and reprogram.

SPEAKER_02 22:08

That's a great idea. I need the quiet time shit. I I wish I could have nap time every day. You better tell them quiet time. And I'm like, okay. So let's start with art camp, because everybody likes doing art. Well, most kids like doing art in some type of way. Um, so for my kids, we're working on books together. So that's an idea. Yes, writing books together. So that's an idea to do over the summer. Um, and then you can publish those books. And then hopefully somebody's gonna buy them and it'll help pay for college. I was just about to say, fund their add to their college fund, okay? Exactly. Exactly. So we got a couple different ideas that we're working through and they're fun. We'll start, you know. I have one kid who really loves um doing graphic design. So she's like, boom, I'll illustrate the book. Got the other one. He thinks he is, I don't want to say he thinks, he is a great freestyle artist in his mind. And he helps me with all the freestyle lyrics to the book. And I mean, it's just it's lots of fun when you create together and then you have that memory, and then you can make the book together. So that is another like camp idea. Are we still going here? Some easy art ideas, it would be. Drawing like a chalk chalk mural in the driveway.

SPEAKER_00 23:30

Girl, I got a chalk mural out there right now. They created the obstacle course with some chalk over the week.

SPEAKER_02 23:35

Oh, that's a good idea.

SPEAKER_00 23:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:37

Um, or what about make your own superhero costume? I think I'm a superhero. Single moms are superheroes. Like, absolutely. I would make your own Cape Day, you know. I'm sure my kids, at least, actually, I think all of them would enjoy like creating a cardboard box city. Like just creating or building something that they like making a fort and then having like a battery.

SPEAKER_00 24:01

See a different fort every week at my house. And now I'll be like, my cows kill it, my cut. You know, so some of these are great ideas for some people. I mean, I don't know. Some of it just I'm gonna have to let loose, okay? They they ain't got nowhere else to go this summer. So it's gonna be chaotic household. Go ahead and fill that fort. You want some more Amazon boxes? There you go. Have at it.

SPEAKER_02 24:24

Um, but you know, I think it'll be really good to create an art station so that the house don't get all crazy. And if it's warm enough outside, do that outside.

SPEAKER_00 24:33

All that yard is for.

SPEAKER_02 24:34

Exactly. Exactly. Um, what else? Let's see here. And you know, you already probably got all the supplies at home. Just simple supplies like crayons, all stuff. Just get it all together.

SPEAKER_00 24:49

Markers, crayons, construction paper, glue sticks, glue guns, scissors, stickers. Kids love stickers. I don't know what it is about stickers, but they lose they damn eye when it comes to the city. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 25:00

I think my 13-year-old's door is covered in stickers. I did that.

SPEAKER_00 25:04

My childhood um door is still covered in stickers. My mom hasn't painted over it. She still is it up there, it's still up there today.

SPEAKER_02 25:10

I just gave up. I just gave up. I was like, just try not, don't do the walls. The door is you whatever. You can keep the door.

SPEAKER_01 25:18

Yeah, all right.

SPEAKER_02 25:20

And then, you know, the kids can kind of just like create on their own when they have all their supplies. You don't really have to like lead that activity. Um, and it you'll be like amazed at what they come up with. Um, my son likes building like little magnet people. So all he needs is cardboard, like those uh what are those wire? Pipe cleaners. Pipe cleaners, yes, yes, yes, yes. Pipe cleaners, tape, and those little magnets. You can get them from like the dollar store. Oh, I like it. And he's able to make action figures with the characters and do like stop motions with them, which is really awesome. Super cute.

SPEAKER_00 25:54

You know, and um I just thought about it before we move on to the next camp idea or weekly camp idea. Take pictures. Take pictures. Absolutely. And take videos, because I'll be damned if we put all this time into planning this for these kids this summer, and then at the end of the summer, we didn't do anything. Oh.

SPEAKER_01 26:15

We didn't do anything?

SPEAKER_00 26:16

Like, no, we didn't.

SPEAKER_01 26:18

I just stayed at home. I ain't do nothing.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

What's this? What's this? What's this? You know, like so take pictures for your.

SPEAKER_02 26:26

It's gonna be like uh you ever watch Phineas and Ferb?

SPEAKER_00 26:29

Girl, they watched a whole marathon, yes.

SPEAKER_02 26:32

Okay, yes.

SPEAKER_00 26:34

All right, so my favorite, Science Camp. I love that. The nerd and me is waking up. Okay, I think Science Camp is another great one because it feels like learning, but it's really just play. So some fun ideas when it comes to science is the bacon soda and vinegar volcanoes. Come on. We all have seen those, and I don't care how old it is, it never gets old.

SPEAKER_02 26:56

On a side note, you can use uh bacon soda and vinegar to unclog a toilet as well.

SPEAKER_00 27:01

Just on a side note.

SPEAKER_02 27:02

Did not know that. Yeah. You get a light clog, you can pour it in there, and it the bubbles will help get the clog down.

SPEAKER_00 27:08

So my son and I, my oldest, he wanted to do the mentos and coke experiment, and it was kind of a fail. So I'm gonna try to do that again this summer with him and do it better than what I did it before. Um my kids Just don't get in the way of the bottle. Well, we're gonna do out in the yard. Yeah. Okay. So um, but my kids love something that I cannot stand, and I feel like parents should ask other parents how their kids feel about slime because slime has been right in my mouth multiple times. I hate slime. I hate it. I use slime too, but uh this is a summer that they're gonna be home for hours and hours, and I'm just gonna have to be okay with slime.

SPEAKER_02 27:44

No, they're gonna have to slime is outside.

SPEAKER_00 27:47

That's fine because I have sit I have been lenient when it comes to slime. And slime has ended up on my leather couch, slime has ended up in my rooks, my carpets, slime has ended up on their clothes.

SPEAKER_02 28:04

Poop slime, brown slime stuck to the ceiling.

SPEAKER_00 28:08

Yes. My uh horrible floors has slime and I had to scrape it. So yeah, I don't allow slime anymore, but I think I'm gonna have to be a little bit more lenient this summer and do a station.

SPEAKER_02 28:20

I was at slime station.

SPEAKER_00 28:21

Oh, have you ever heard of Ublick?

SPEAKER_02 28:23

Look at my face.

SPEAKER_00 28:24

Okay, that's enough. Um, and if you want to see her face, go ahead and watch our YouTube channel at Single Mom Honey Official. And make sure you subscribe and rate our uh channel. And also, wherever you are listening to our podcast right now, go ahead and like and you can send us a message in the show notes. It comes directly to us and we'll be able to respond back to you. But if you would like to send us an email or give us some topics you would want us to discuss or give us feedback on this particular episode, you can send us an email at single momhoney at gmail.com and follow us on all socials Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook at SingleMom Honey. And don't forget to join our tea time with Single Mom Honey Facebook.

SPEAKER_02 29:09

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 29:10

So um, yeah, the DIY slime is something I'm just gonna have to get over and let it happen. But another thing is water experiments. Floating. Have you seen those?

SPEAKER_02 29:28

Reoccurring water.

SPEAKER_00 29:30

Oh, send that to me.

SPEAKER_02 29:33

Different pressures. If you put a straw in, you need like it, it looks super cool. And it just kept running on itself because of the pressure.

SPEAKER_00 29:39

I was like, ooh, yes. Yeah, I like stuff like that. So um, and growing beans in a jar. So my kids, we usually plant a garden every year. We haven't years, but I do want to get some seedlings because I missed the whole planting seeds uh by now. I mean, I probably could still do it. It is not too late.

SPEAKER_02 29:59

Um, we can even do uh kitchen science as well. But I really listen, I need a a camp day for uh cleaning the kitchen because I hate. I I love when they make stuff in the kitchen, but it just be like, so why is the flour all all the way over here? Like I just don't understand like what happens in the kitchen.

SPEAKER_00 30:17

A part of cooking is cleaning it afterwards. Like I know people are usually tired at the time, but if you make the mess, you have to clean it. Or you have to have an agreement with somebody. If I cook, you clean, all right?

SPEAKER_02 30:27

Or you can make like smoothies in the kitchen, homemade popsicles.

SPEAKER_01 30:31

I love homemade popsicles.

SPEAKER_02 30:33

Um ice cream is a cool thing to make. Um very simple too. Lemonade, you can have them do a lemonade stamp or day, which would be cool too. Make some extra money for the adventure day, you know. That could work. I love all of that. Oh, let's talk about nature camp. Now, I will say last year I took the kids kayaking and it was amazing. It was my first time going kayaking. We should actually uh plan that. It was my kid's too young for that. Listen, listen, listen. What makes a mom get up? Yes, we could. Absolutely. We could eat technically, we would have we had to waterproof everything, but we could do that and record on the boat because you would uh listen, last time it was such an adventure, a wolf spider jumped in my boat and I ended up in the river. Sounds like you don't want to cut.

SPEAKER_00 31:22

But why would you tell me that before?

SPEAKER_02 31:24

Let me tell you why. Let me tell you what happened though. It was because my son wasn't listening and he was my kayak partner and he wanted to turn around. So you gotta be on one accord when you're kayaking, so y'all can't roll in the same direction. I'm rowing this way, he's rowing that way. He ends us up under a tree. And what you don't want to do is ride under trees right next to the river, because things is living there. And we found out the hard way. That big was it? Girl, big enough for me to jump out the boat into the mud, into the water. And I had to wait for my brother-in-law to kayak up to us to dump out the boat. And the thing was more scared of us than we were scared of it. I don't know, we were equally scared because they heard me scream all the way down the river. Because also, Carter was like, Oh, we are super kayakers. Now, I'll tell you this, it felt like I did three million push-ups and I was sore for days. I'd like to sort of go fire. Yes, shoulders, chest, everything was just like, oh god. Um, but it was such a fun experience, you know. Um but the spider itself, it was pretty big. Like, uh, I don't want to say it was big as my hand, but like the legs were big enough. Like it was when I seen it in a boat, like I like the scream was like from a scary movie. You know? And I was trying to tell my son, like, uh, is it and then he seen it. And I mean, it was the legs were so big, it was moving so fast up the boat trying to find girl, stop, stop it, stop it. But besides that, besides that, it was a it was so fun. We should definitely do it. We should definitely do it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Minus the spider, everything else was fun. Yeah. Um, so I mean, there's ideas like besides that, that was my bug explored it. I explored the rachids. I do not recommend, you know, uh look at them from a distance. Um you could collect rocks. Um, I like going to the beach and collecting seashells and making art from that. Um, you can do a scavenger hunt with your kids, rock painting. Um you could also do like home improvement projects around your house for nature can't, like outside of your yard. Um, have a backyard picnic. Um, but I would suggest getting like a bug zapper while you're out there, unless because mosquitoes be out.

SPEAKER_00 33:45

Um it's like they're getting worse too. Like, I don't remember mosquitoes being this big.

SPEAKER_02 33:52

They don't even care. They don't even care. They'll be like, you know what? Sometimes I used to think they came out at night. I was like, why are y'all out today? Like, don't I get some time?

SPEAKER_00 34:01

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 34:02

Between them and the bees, I'd be like, I'm gonna be in the house.

SPEAKER_00 34:06

Were that's nothing, though. A wasp, it was warm for one day. I'm talking about four wasps. I was like, oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 34:16

Listen, it got warm one day, I would say in January, January or February, and there was this bee, it was lost. I was like, ma'am, you thought it was warm yesterday, so you came out today. And it just, you know, flew onto my um side view mirror. And I was like, Well, I can't help you. I know it's cold out there, but you can't come in here. And it was holding on for dear life, like on to the wind. I was like, You're gonna have to blow off because I got to get out this car.

SPEAKER_00 34:42

Eventually it was gone. Yeah. Something else to do outside is a picnic. I think that's so cute.

SPEAKER_02 34:49

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 34:49

You know, especially when you allow them to pack the picnic so they get to make their own sandwiches and pack the snacks and stuff and put out the blanket. That's something I I see us doing on a regular basis. Probably just every day for lunch, because it gives me a chance to get out of the house as well.

SPEAKER_02 35:04

And get some sunshine, some vitamin D. Yeah, you need a vitamin D.

SPEAKER_00 35:13

You don't want to be outside, girl. You don't want to be a big girl, girl.

SPEAKER_02 35:16

Anyway, sit in the grass, I'm looking for bees, I'm scanning for bees, wasps, ants, just random things, crawling. Listen, listen.

SPEAKER_00 35:24

I don't like them either, but that's their home. You're in their living room. Like, girl, what you thought this was?

SPEAKER_02 35:29

Listen, out here. Yeah. Uh, like you said, taking pictures and all that other fun stuff. Take k pictures of all these fun activities. I will say this. When my son was young, um, maybe like four or five, I got him a cell phone because that's when um we were doing this, like he was doing visitations at that point. Um, but he was too young to have a cell phone because he didn't like ants then either. He took that cell phone, he was out in the backyard, and I guess he seen a whole bunch of ants. He came back in and was like, Mama, my cell phone broke. Later I found out he felt like he was being attacked by ants, so he tried to kill him with the cell phone. You know, so that is a funny memory. I had to replace the phone, but like anyway. So um I was just gonna say uh it'll be really cool, like when you're doing these outside activities again. Um, it'll also help with their writing skills if they keep a notebook with them or you know, a journal, summer journal of the things they see or learn so they can reflect on it later, but they'd be able to uh better express themselves.

SPEAKER_00 36:31

Absolutely. So another work from home law seeker is an independent activity bin. Okay. This is something that you pre-stuff before the day gets started. That I don't want to hear, I'm bored. Go to the bin. Don't tell me about anything. We ain't gonna go to the bin. Ben. Did you have you seen the uh the bin? Like, you just don't have to do that. Like, let's talk about something that saved my sanity, activity bins. You know, like it gives the opportunity to have that independent time to choose what they want to do. Everything ain't gotta be a team activity, everything ain't gotta be a group project. Your mama don't like group projects. Let me tell you why. Because the bin is there for you.

SPEAKER_02 37:13

I don't like group projects because I end up doing all the work. It's been like that since school. That's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_00 37:18

Girl, I can't stand group projects. If you want me to quit, make me work from a group project on a regular basis. This isn't for me.

SPEAKER_02 37:26

Yes. I agree. Yes. Every mom needs uh independent activity bin. So in those bins, again, age appropriate stuff. Like for me, I'm gonna be, I got these kids a little bit older. They like money making activities. So I'm gonna be like, hey, there's some something that needs to be picked up in a yard. You can add chores to this activity bin. You want to make some extra cash for adventure day? Boom, you can do that independently. And then I need you to provide me photo proof um and let me know what you got done so they can cash in on their winnings. You know? Uh for younger kids, we could do Lego challenges, puzzles, play-doh, uh building a fortress out of magnetic towels. Those things are expensive, but you can always find them on sale at like uh TJ Maxx and Marshall Ross.

SPEAKER_00 38:18

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 38:19

But um, coloring books have a coloring contest, like you can work independently, bring it all together, frame their artwork, you know, and then they can rotate these bins.

SPEAKER_00 38:29

Well, we can do a little museum, a little art exhibit, all of their art for the month. I think that's I'm gonna do that. That's happened at.

SPEAKER_02 38:44

Yeah, just kinda don't put everything out at once because then you might be like It's like a Christmas.

SPEAKER_00 38:53

Like Christmas, they get all these different toys and stuff like that. Girl is still things right now in the spring that have not been played with from Christmas. Yeah. Or been played with one time. It's like, okay, I'm done. I was like, Yeah, and then you learn.

SPEAKER_02 39:06

Yeah. Uh you can also have like a special bin for like when you need that extra quiet time when you do have meetings. Um, it'll be your special quiet bin. Like exactly. Very occupied, stuff that they really want to do, or something that like keeps their focus a little longer.

SPEAKER_00 39:22

So it's something that's special that they don't see every single day that it loses value. It gotta be something that's put away. Okay, time, nope, time for the pen to go away, you know, so that they're really engaged when it's time for it to happen. So, other than the independent bins, one thing we love here as single moms is talk about how we can lower the costs because we know the income is limited when you're the main one getting through these kids. So let's talk about money because camps can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars in a situation I just explained at the beginning of the episode. But you can have amazing summer experiences with things that you already have. Backyard water play with buckets, you know, like water guns. Oh my god. Water balloons, water balloons, pots, okay? You just need to have it fill something up, like homemade obstacle courses. Um, my kids go to this uh like Ninja Nation um place, and they have like these real obstacle courses like America Ninja. We could do something like that at home with what we got, a movie afternoon with popcorn. My sister-in-law has this huge inflatable screen that we can use on a projector, and she wants to have like summer movie nights, and in her backyard, we will be able to have like little popcorn and little movie theater for the children. Um that's an awesome idea. Um, and then also we do utilize and we have not done it lately, but I do plan on adding this back, going to the library. Like the library is probably like a 10-15 minute walk from my house. So that's something that I'm going to incorporate um for us this summer as well. And neighborhood park days. Like I love the park here. We have um a lily pond with the goldfish and turtles, and it's so cute when they finally see tadpoles being born. It was like, that's gonna be a turtle?

SPEAKER_01 41:08

What how? It looked like a little snake.

SPEAKER_00 41:11

Um, or going a kite. I bought the boys' kites for Christmas. That's something they've been doing since the spring. The weather did kind of break recently. So taking them to the park with a big open field to play with their um to fly their kites is something that we're gonna be doing. And just keeping them busy, but also keeping yourself busy. Because, like I said, when you are working, it's one thing to be working during a school year. It's another thing when you're working during summer break. Working up in a summer break is so depressing because you remember days back when you had summer break and you didn't have to worry about doing anything at all, but you are still expected to sign on, you're still expected to show up, you're still expected to do this report and everything else. And you see these kids just having a time of their lives, just enjoy themselves, not with no care in the world, not a bill testing their name, just loving it. So I feel like I miss out if I don't do anything that day. Like I want to be as active as possible too, because I want to be outside. I want to feel like I'm getting some activity, like I want to sweat. You know, I want to enjoy my summer as well. Okay, so first of all, the whole sweating part. You don't uh sweat doesn't bother me. Unless I'm trying to be cute.

SPEAKER_02 42:21

I I just I realized um, you know, after having these kids, I started sweating more, so it's not my favorite thing. I used to be able to run a couple of miles without sweating, and then after the kids, it was like I was just sweating from everywhere. So when you say sweat, I just gotta flash, huh?

SPEAKER_00 42:37

You ain't flashy yet, are you?

SPEAKER_02 42:39

My sister keeps calling me Perry. Wow. Short for Perry menopause. She knows that I'm don't don't do that, because you'll be next. Um I do get hot randomly now, but I haven't broken out into like any cold sweats or anything. I just feel like I overheat, but I feel like it's been that way since I had the kids. Mm-hmm. You're good. All right. Um another thing would be if you can get like um season passes for your kids to different amusement parks, uh, that's a good way to take off the pressure. And if you work from home, like when your kids get old enough, they can you could be at the park, but you know, at the pavilion and they could run around together. Um, because my kids are old enough to do that now. Of course, you would still have to be with your kids, but like it's just something that takes the pressure off of like trying to entertain, because let's be real here. Trying to entertain your kids every day, that's a whole nother job that like it's not for the faint of heart. Like they want top-tier entertainment all the time. Get to it, boo. Also, libraries are actually an amazing um summer resource. My kids love going to the libraries right up the block so they can take a field trip there together. They have summer reading programs, craft days, uh, sometimes they have book fairs, they have all All types of things. They have events for the kids most of the summer and you can visit different libraries. Doesn't just have to be your local library. You know, once you get a library card, I mean you you don't even have to have a library card to go to the library to en enjoy the event. So that's always a great opportunity. And it's free. I'm about to say that's the best part, girl. Free nine and now, um, before we wrap up, we want to remind you, remind ourselves as well, single moms, of something really, really important. You do not have to be a perfect mom. You do not have to have a Pinterest page to have a wonderful summer for the kids. Like uh they are going to enjoy it. Like uh kids are really not super hard to please. Now, I think your lunch, Meg, you might need to be top tier because when you gotta keep them fed, because hangry kids during the summer is crazy. Uh, but it doesn't have to be perfect, just a little bit of effort goes a long way.

SPEAKER_00 45:02

It doesn't have to be perfect and it doesn't have to be packed, you know. Like give yourself some leeway and give them some leeway too. Like they were dressed in an extremely structured from the time they woke up to the time they went to bed, a routine. They want to have some leniency as well. So, what they really need and what I notice my children value the most is my time. They value that connection of us all doing something together. Look, we're all doing this, we're all coloring. They'll say stuff like that, or wow, mom, you did that. You could draw really good, you know. And they just love to have your eyes attached to them because unfortunately, being a working single mom, my eyes are usually focused on work, my cell phone, uh calendars, reports, things of that nature. So even if I'm juggling work, it makes them feel good to know that they are also being seen, you know. That's all we need, is just your time and attention, really.

SPEAKER_02 45:52

And snuggles, I mean, go ahead. I'm so sorry.

SPEAKER_00 45:55

I'm gonna say and snuggles. They love to snuggles?

SPEAKER_02 45:58

Oh, absolutely. And it doesn't matter how old they get, they still love snuggles. Um, you know, well, another thing to remember is that some days will be structured, some days will be movie days, some days will be an outside day, and some days they'll be eating chips and popsicles at 10 a.m.

SPEAKER_00 46:16

Right? Some days will be tied to tablet day, okay? Because mom has got meetings from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. And look, some days will be lunchable days, but I'm not putting out a whole screen. You're not getting no computer board here.

SPEAKER_02 46:30

Listen, do nothing at all days. Those are amazing. Yeah, you don't have to do anything unless you want to day. You can even have a yes day. Can I do that? Yep. Okay. Just remember to have fun while doing it and don't put too much stress on yourself. It is summer vacation for everyone, even though we still gotta work.

SPEAKER_00 46:54

All right, so if this episode helped you think about a summer a little differently, you know, and gave you a little bit of hope as it has given both myself and Kway, share with another single mom who might need these ideas.

SPEAKER_02 47:07

And we would love to hear from you. What are your favorite at-home summer activities for your kids and for yourself? How do you get some me time in the summer?

SPEAKER_00 47:14

Exactly. So go ahead and connect with us on social media at Single Mom Honey Official on all platforms. Subscribe to our YouTube channel at Single Mom Honey Official or send us an email, single momhoney at gmail.com. All right, I'm Claylin. I cover the health. And I'm Aisha, I cover the money. You bring the tea, and we got the honey. See you next time.