I’ve been loving all of the June posts and summer-themed podcasts.
(This morning I really enjoyed this one from Monica Packer of About Progress – we definitely lead very different lives but many commonalities there too and a ton of great ideas!).
Our June is a little weird and sort of . . .. empty!? We have no travel and fairly minimal evening kid commitments — C has lacrosse (games for his summer league) and A has gymnastics (just joined team) but that’s about it. There are no holidays other than Father’s Day and no random days off. I am not running any major BLP-related courses, having previously learned that this is not the mindset most people want to be in during summer. I don’t have any large projects due. There isn’t a marathon coming up. For better or for worse, there just ISN’T THAT MUCH GOING ON!!!!
Honestly, it’s kind of weird.
When I do my monthly planning, I always come up with a list of fun things going on. This month I could only think of taking the kids to see Inside Out, plus I will probably arrange for a date night.
I do have a week of call, and Josh is working two weekends. It will be interesting to see if call feels easier with less . . . surrounding it.
JUNE GOALS
PERSONAL
+ Fitness –> focus on strength / speed. Run a timed mile on the track (as a ‘before’)
+ Yoga –> listen, if I can’t fit it in now, it’s never going to happen (which might be the answer). So let’s try for now!
+ Read a lot and enjoy increasing my fiction-reading over the summer!! Specifically I’d like to ensure I spend a solid chunk of time reading before I do any scrolling.
RELATIONSHIPS
+ Implement weekly + seasonal family meetings with more structure. We do this loosely. We could do it better!
+ Try to find a family TV show we can all enjoy! (Young Sheldon? Recs welcome . . . 6 yo girl / 10 yo boy / 12 yo girl; we are not particularly worried about mature topics or language, more worried about holding everyone’s interest)
+ FINISH THE ESTATE PLANNING (by end of summer)
HOME
+ Start working on decluttering visible spaces
+ Audit our family budget. Lifestyle creep is real. Big kid activities are expensive. Big KIDS are asking for more material things (and pricey ones at that). I just want to make sure we are spending consciously on our actual priorities.
+ Make one fun summery dessert
WORK
+ Thrive (to the extent possible) during call week
+ WORK ON BOOK PROPOSAL (have workable version by end of July)
+ Pitch some running podcasts to see if anyone wants to feature a normal-person (as opposed to pro/elite/sub-elite/naturally fast) runner with some podcasting experience (why not lol)
23 Comments
As a person with kids the same ages (and including a travel soccer player), I hope to hear what you come up with for the TV show and budget creep. Those are both things we have been considering recently. We are currently watching Firefly (I’m not sure I would recommend it) and considering watching all the x men movies (we did Marvel last summer). Budget is tougher. 🙂
Agree on budget creep. In the summer, you want to get out and do things, but then – the cost. As a teacher I am not working in the summer but we do something that’s called “summer pay” where the district is withholding a certain amount, then releases it in the summer as if it were a paycheck. But that does not meet my whole salary.
I was wondering if maybe you could work on decluttering while on call? Something to do to relieve the anxiety / stress? Sometimes when I’m in a period of limbo like that I like to declutter and organize … not following any plan but just sort of working on whatever I notice could be improved.
TV shows our 3 kids enjoyed over the last couple of years:
Merlin (British show from around 2008)
Wolfblood (also British)
Chuck
His dark materials (the HBO show)
H2O (about mermaids, only my girls watched this one)
Teen Wolf (they just finished it and they are older than yours: 15, 13 and 10… May be too scary for some younger kids)
Currently watching White Collar
TV Recs: Abbott Elementary; the Doogie (Hauser) on Disney; Mixedish; Modern Family; and Blackish; we also like all the baking championships on Food Network.
Modern Family has been a big hit with my 12 and 7 year old recently. The 4 year old is probably a bit young for it but still watches along happily!
We enjoy Abbott and Modern Family with 6/9/12 yo so second those suggestions.
The only thing all of us like to watch together is Mr. Beast, lol. And Ryan Trahan. Both on YouTube. We’ve enjoyed Wednesday, Enola Holmes, and A Series of Unfortunate Events on Netflix with the older two, but the 6-year-old thinks they are either too boring or too scary.
We also like Oversimplified on YouTube.
I am still not at summer mood yet as work has not slowdown as I expected…. until next week or the after so I can tune into summer mood although here’s summer all year long (weather wise).
I love the idea of running podcast Sarah!!!
And yes, kids are asking more things, with their allowances or money given by grandma, which I don’t like and often tell them it’s still money “wasted” if not well spent.
shows: abbott elementary, amazing race, american ninja warrior, the middle, masterchef kids, nailed it, trollhunters
Second for amazing race- I really loved that at C and A’s ages. Tons of back seasons to watch too.
I feel like those are some nice goals that lend itself to setting up good routines and habits. I think it’s nice to have slower times to take a step back and see what is important ans get a sense of perspective on the busier times.
June is the busy part of my summer because of swim team and then we are travelling for the Father’s Day/Juneteenth holiday. We’ve been leaning into the tv shows too since swim team practice makes it hard ro do a full movie on Friday nights when we usually have pizza. Currently with our kids (4-12) we are watching Glee, but in the past we’ve watched Galavant, Brooklyn 99, Modern Family, Mandalorian, Bad Batch, Once Upon a Time, Stargate, Star Trek.
Glee is an interesting choice!! That might work … loved it the first time around…
JUNE! My goodness. I think it’s nice to have a quieter month – and book that yoga class! School for T doesn’t finish til the 29th so June is really hectic for us – and we added to the chaos with a camping trip and a friend’s 50th birthday up north. And an election campaign! T has been a bit of a grump (and it seems to be universal – the normally very chill Scouts leader was really struggling with the kids this week) but we had lots of family time at the weekend – away from chores and tasks – and that seemed to really help. Went to a GORGEOUS Japanese garden whcih was on our 2024 list.
I haven’t worked from home in at least 2 weeks – been away, meeting up with people, on campus, and was due a writing date with a friend today but she cancelled this am and I am slightly relieved for a day at home. Bonus – my husband is chaperoning my son’s fieldtrip today, so I’m solo.
I feel like I’m just running from deadline to deadline, and keep telling myself “by the end of this month, things will be calmer” but nope, never seems to be the case. July is our big travel month so I need to have a serious talk with myself about what actually needs to be done this month, and what can wait. My prioritisation seems a bit scatty – I did my annual review forms yesterday, ages ahead of the September deadline, because it was one thing I could get fully done in an hour and cross off my list.
Your blog is a constant source of inspiration for me. Your passion for your subject matter shines through in every post, and it’s clear that you genuinely care about making a positive impact on your readers.
First, I am. so. jealous. We are still deep in the wind down of the school year. This month started with all the music recitals and still contains the 5th grade concert, the arrival of family so they can be here for … confirmation, two graduations and a birthday. Then we drop 3/4 kids off at camp and … I think collapse at that point.
As for TV shows my middle kids (13, 11) love Modern Family and interestingly enough, the Office.
You should pitch Lindsey Hein – her podcast is I’ll Have Another. She just did the race announcing for Bayshore!
Yeah, June does feel suspiciously slow. I guess it’s just this week, because next week my daughter has camp and the week after that my sister is coming to visit. I think part of your feeling is coming from having your race be over. You had that as a goal for so long and it feels weird to NOT have it right now.
Yes, I could totally imagine you would be a great guest on some running podcasts!!!
Our whole family (kids ages 9-17) absolutely loved The Middle!
Avatar the Last Airbender!! We are watching it with our 6yo for the first time (it is over our 4yo’s head) and have been reminded just how much we love it ourselves. The first few episodes of the first season feel like a kid’s show, but the themes and characters deepen so much and in the end, it has some of my favorite characters of all time in any show. Highly recommend!!
I love your goals list… you seem so focused and it’s good to make priorities every month. Is the estate planning really complicated or are you just pushing the can down the road a bit?
It’s pretty done! We just need to go sign papers and do something (need to clarify) w bank accounts.