What are you feeding your children this summer?
By Lindsay Jordan, LCSWA
As school winds down, I have been focusing on how to occupy my kids over the summer- orchestrating camp sign-ups, vacation weeks, and time with family and friends to keep them happy and give them a great summer after a difficult year. The rhythm of meals will also be impacted, as when my kids are home all day, they are constantly hungry, therefore I will need to load up on snacks, preferably with some nutritional value.
In addition to planning activities and sustaining their appetites, I aspire to consider what I am “feeding” my children in terms of their moral and spiritual development. Will I plan a summer that is motivated by keeping them entertained and happy, or will I go deeper and consider each of my children and the areas where their “school” learning could be supplemented with “life” learning? It is easier to go with the flow and allow the media they consume and the people around them to shape their core, but I want to consider ways to enter into their world and engage with material that will challenge and form them. This is not an easy undertaking as there are times when survival and maintaining the status quo is all I can handle, but it is a worthy goal.
Engaging our children on a deeper level does not need to be time-consuming or energy draining. Depending on your child’s age, involving the child in the planning process could encourage participation, like allowing them to choose between two books or values to study. The plan could be as simple as having a short reading and question of the day to explore more of your child’s thoughts, dreams, and feelings, or exploring a different value (i.e. honesty, empathy, respect, partnership, independence).
There are a plethora of good options, so what will matter most is not choosing the perfect resource but that a goal is developed and attempted and that connection with the child is deepened. In the past, a friend read through “The Children’s Book of Virtues”, or another friend read and discussed a part of Psalm 23 at lunch most days. Last summer, I chose a Bible verse for each of my children to commit to memory and another summer we read “Thoughts to Make your Heart Sing” by Sally Lloyd-Jones.
It is summertime, and summer is crazy, so it will likely not be seamless, but it will be a success if, at the end of the summer, there is some growth and a deeper connection with your child. Have fun with it and give yourself lots of grace!