Summer is just around the corner. Summer break is a mere 6 weeks away for my children. And we are planning on staying in Riyadh. When I ask friends what their summer plans are, most reply that they are headed back to their home countries.
I'm starting to get a little worried. I'm not worried about the weather. Yes, it will be incredibly hot, but we have air conditioning and will adjust our outdoor activities to the evenings. And we've got those pools. They may steam during the daytime, but I'm sure they are lovely at night.
I'm mostly worried about the mass exodus of expats from the compounds. A lot of dads will be around, but the kids are headed for the hills with their mothers. And that leaves me with 5 kids and few playmates. . .
Oh well, we'll get through it somehow.
I'm starting to get a little worried. I'm not worried about the weather. Yes, it will be incredibly hot, but we have air conditioning and will adjust our outdoor activities to the evenings. And we've got those pools. They may steam during the daytime, but I'm sure they are lovely at night.
I'm mostly worried about the mass exodus of expats from the compounds. A lot of dads will be around, but the kids are headed for the hills with their mothers. And that leaves me with 5 kids and few playmates. . .
Oh well, we'll get through it somehow.
It reminds me (a teeny bit) of Rexburg in summer. I stayed summer term and it was like a different world with the city so empty.
ReplyDelete....ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... a great time for family bonding???
ReplyDeleteThat will be tough. But it seems to me that that is how summer break is no matter where you have it. Around here, so many people are gone traveling that there isn't anyone for the kids to play with. And while others might only be gone for a week or two at a time, most people get their kids so involved in stuff to "keep busy" so they won't hear the "I'm bored" that my kids don't have anyone but each other to play with. So what I'm going to do is set up a sort of schedule of free time and structured activities.
ReplyDeleteI'm revamping our chore system and vowing/pledging/whatever to actually do it and be consistent with it, so the kids will have chores to do. They will have time with the Wii and TV but it will be limited to what they earn by doing chores and only to a certain amount of time a day so they don't just do that all the time. I will be teaching them piano lessons and I'm also going to teach them art lessons. I'm also going to implement some science activities for them. I'm researching most of this from the Internet probably--little science experiments and things we can do with household items, that sort of thing, along with teaching them (or reviewing since some of them have had all this in school) things like body systems and other science stuff. I'm considering doing the summer reading program the library does, but I may just come up with my own summer reading program. And I will have them continue to review math and the older ones will practice handwriting every day (because they BOTH need improvement in that area).
We will also be doing "culture weeks" where we will focus on a foreign culture for one week, learning about the things they do, the sights in that nation, the language and the food. I'm especially excited for this. We probably will only do three or four all summer, but it will be a good experience, I hope, for the kids.
It sounds like a lot of work, but once I get it all set up and ready to roll in the next couple of weeks, it will only be a matter of pulling out what we're going to be doing that week/day/etc. and following it.
Not that you were even asking for advice. For summer break around here, all my mom friends do is complain about how long it is and how the kids are always bored and how they can't wait to get back to school, but I love it because it gives me a chance to be with them and teach them what I want them to know and they actually have time to pay attention to me.