A Slow Parenting Summer

“You know the Beginning of School Enthusiasm? When the pencils are fresh and the notebooks are new and the kids’ backpacks don’t look like they lined the den of a pack of filthy hyenas? Moms, remember how you packed innovative and nutritional lunches and laid clothes out the night before and labeled shelves for each child’s work and school correspondence and completed homework in a timely manner?

I am exactly still like that at the end of school, except the opposite.”

        These are the words of Jen Hatmaker in her article “Worst End of School Mom Ever.”  You can read this humorous, but realistic, article at http://jenhatmaker.com/blog/2013/05/30/worst-end-of-school-year-mom-ever. I promise that all parents will laugh.  She describes how as a parent she has lost steam and is limping towards the finish line, as a tired, worn-out parent unable to still supervise and oversee the work and even sign papers.   So, it’s not just our kids who are ready for vacation. We parents are too.

       

The good news is that both parents and students have the summer vacation to recharge. We worked hard this year too and deserve the time to simply enjoy our children.

Katherine Martinko, in her article “I’m Opting For A Slow Parenting Summer” writes about what Slow Parenting is- “The philosophy behind slow parenting is exactly what it sounds like – that kids need time and space to explore the world on their own terms; that they learn to entertain themselves, play outdoors, and enjoy hanging out with their families; and that they receive sufficient down time to process what’s going on their lives.” She says that we tend to overburden our family’s free time.    “The ‘slow parenting’ movement is gaining traction in opposition to the chronic ‘fast forward’ mode that drives so many North American families nowadays. At a time when childrearing feels more like ‘a cross between a competitive sport and product-development’, it feels really good just to say ‘no’ and detach from the rat race.”

Carrie Contey, the founder of Slow Family Living stresses that children need moments of “doing” and moments of “being.” We tend to overschedule with doing and do not allow for being.  Children who can simply “be” are more comfortable, secure and often more content.  They do not need to be entertained at every moment of every day.

The bell just rang and the last minutes of the school year have passed. I am making a commitment to some slow parenting moments this summer. I hope that you are too.  You deserve it!