I don’t know about you, but I am ready for a break this summer! Don’t get me wrong – I love spending time with my kids. I’m so glad we have this homeschool time together. Watching my oldest learn and grow through his kindergarten year has been amazing, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

However.
Kids 24/7/365

Everyone needs a break. I actually had my first honest-to-goodness vacation this year. My first nights away since before my six-year-old was born. It was amazing.

But now I’m back to reality. Our reality is that we don’t live by much family. We don’t have a network of family to babysit. My husband works in a restaurant. If you aren’t familiar with this schedule – basically he could be working all day everyday or all night every night or both. Usually both.

So most days it’s just me and the kids.

But not this summer!

This year my kids are going to camp. It’s a big decision to make – sending your kids to someone else all day. Well, it was a big decision for us.

I do realize that something like 97% of all other kids go to school 180+ days a year. But our kids have never been away that long. We’ve done a bit of preschool – half days and partial weeks, but WOW goodbye from 9 AM to 5 PM five days a week? What ever will I do with myself?

Don’t worry, I’ve got 101 ideas in my back pocket.

It’s funny with homeschoolers, though. I feel like I have to defend my choice to send my kids to camp. Some people homeschool because they would never, under any circumstance, leave their child in the care of another adult.

But their hangups aren’t my hangups. Not that I don’t have hangups. It’s just that the reasons we choose to homeschool don’t have to do with sheltering my kids or mistrusting teachers. I love teachers. I love camp counselors. I love sending my kids to camp.

Grab your sunscreen and a cocktail
with an umbrella. It’s summertime.

Whether you’re sending your kids to camp, getting a babysitter for a night out, hiring a mother’s helper, or dropping them off with family for the week: Let the guilt go!

You now have permission encouragement! Do it. Take a break this summer. Take time off from homeschool. Take time away from your kids. Take some time for you.

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101 Reasons to take a break this summer

Reasons a break will be good for you, for your family, for your life. Taking time for a break is not wasting time. It’s a relief from the everyday. Revel in it. Soon it will be back to the grind.

1. You’ll have time to do something just for you

2. You won’t have to write lesson plans

3. You don’t have to make a library list

4. You don’t even have to go to the library

5. Exhale

6. You can step away from the stress being with kids all day can cause

7. You can step away from the stress that working and taking care of the kids can cause

8. Time to pursue your own interests

9. One on one time with younger kids

10. One on one time with older kids

11. One on one time with your partner
    It’s hard to come by!

12. Step out of the teacher role

13. Step out of the Mom role

14. Catch up on Orange is the New Black

15. Get into your own summer reading list

16. Spend hours pointlessly surfing Facebook without guilt

17. Declutter the house

18. Clean behind the stove, finally

19. Move the furniture around

20. Redecorate your office

21. Play in your planner

22. Create something beautiful

23. Shop for something beautiful

24. Shop by yourself

25. Take as long as you want in the dressing room

26. Eat lunch by yourself

27. Not share your lunch

28. Go to the movies

29. Pick which movie you want to see without compromise

30. Keep all the popcorn to yourself

31. Go to the bathroom in the middle of the movie
    without having to take the whole crew along

32. Go to the bathroom by yourself

33. Have time for all of the well visits you’ve been skipping

34. Go to the dentist

35. Let your mind rest

36. Pick up a hobby you’ve been thinking about

37. Catch up at work

38. Get ahead at work

39. Work without feeling like you should be doing something else

40. Take time to plan your upcoming year

41. Visit a friend you haven’t seen in a while

42. Have a day out with the girls

43. Have a day out on your own

44. Have a day when you can take your own sweet time and not have to report to anyone, be anywhere, or do anything for anyone else.

45. Your kids might want a break, too

46. Do something you’ve always wanted to do

47. Do something that would even surprise yourself

48. The kids can try something new

49. They can meet some summer friends

50. Explore their own interests independently

51. Or watch TV until their eyeballs fall out

52. Then they’ll realize they’d rather be doing other things than watching TV until their eyeballs fall out

53. You can watch TV until your eyeballs fall out

54. Watch a whole season on Netflix in one day. In bed.

55. See why everyone is always talking about The Walking Dead

56. Watch shows for grown-ups without worrying that a kid is going to come in during a shoot-out

57. You’ll have more time to nurture your adult relationships

58. Have a park day with your spouse and no kids

59. Just relax

60. Go back to your yoga class or try it for the first time

61. Go swimming without having to monitor children

62. Go camping without thinking about where to stash the diapers

63. Just hang out with another adult

64. Make plans on the spur of the moment

65. Cancel plans because you plain don’t wanna

66. Have a wild night out

67. Have a wild night in

68. It’s natural to want a break

69. It’s okay to need a little down time

70. Change is good

71. Have a day that you’re just yourself and not MOM

72. Everybody Else is doing it.

73. You’ll get that schools-out feeling again

74. After a break, you’ll look forward to school being back in again

75. There won’t be anyone asking you for snacks today

76. You don’t have to share your snack today

77. Summertime day drinking.
    No judgement.

78. Go places you usually
    wouldn’t take your kids

79. Try a new bar

80. Get your nails did

81. Get your hair did

82. Have a day of pampering rather than a day of Pampers

83. Have room to breathe

84. Create some space or margin in your routine

85. Take time to meditate

86. Start a gratitude journal

87. Volunteer

88. Start a garden

89. Pick flowers

90. Visit a farmer’s market

91. Lay on the beach all day

92. Lay on the couch all day

93. Write down some goals you’d like to accomplish

94. Take time to reflect on your life

95. Make a plan to change things that aren’t working

96. Do all the little things you don’t usually have time to do

97. Do nothing at all and don’t feel bad about it

98. Miss your kids

99. Look forward to the end of your break

100. Look forward to getting back to your regular routine

101. Appreciate the life you’ve created

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More summer fun & learning from the Resource Room:

• 10 FUN Alternatives to Summer School: Avoid the Summer Slide!
• FUN Summer Printables + Library Reading Challenge!
• 10 FREE Summer Programs for Kids for Fantastic FUN & Learning!
• BIG List of Things to Do with Kids in the Summer!
• 10 FREE Online Courses for Kids! Screentime You can feel GOOD about!

Proud to be featured on iHomeschool Network’s 101 Reasons