Long Live the Pool

and the three things I'm focusing on with my kids this summer

My kids got out of school a little over two weeks ago, and we are fully in summer mode. We celebrated the last day with silly string and ice cream (and, my favorite part—hiding their school Chromebooks until the fall).

Our summer mostly revolves around the pool, which I love. And now… it’s easier. We’re well past the stage of working around nap times or having to remember swim diapers. The kids each have their own swim backpack, which means less stuff for me to haul to and from the pool. Most importantly, everyone knows how to swim. It feels like I’ve achieved a new level of parenting.

This summer, I decided to forego worrying about summer workbooks, screen time schedules, or any of the other ambitious things I’ve felt like I needed to do in the past. I’m keeping it simple, and we are focusing on creativity, reading, and independence.

I took a photography workshop through Exhale Creativity just before school got out for the summer, and it was the perfect way to jump-start my own focus on creativity for the summer.

I wouldn’t have thought about trying a double-exposure app before the workshop, but it inspired me to play around with a few to create this image of my ten-year-old finishing his first open-water swim.

As for the kids, long days at the pool lend themselves perfectly to lots of creativity. They’ve built elaborate towel forts and spent hours playing games both in and out of the water. A cheap stopwatch has inspired an ongoing recreation of the Olympic swim trials (a stack of kickboards makes a great podium). When they need a little break from running around or swimming, these waterproof playing cards have been a big hit.

We’ve signed up for our library summer reading program and picked up the reading logs to participate in the Barnes & Noble summer reading program. While an actual, physical book will always be my first choice, audiobooks in the car have become a staple for us this summer. We’re at a sweet spot where all the kids are (mostly) willing to listen to the same books, so I’ve been keeping my holds list on Libby maxed out because they beg for a book the moment we get in the car (which makes my book-loving heart oh-so-happy).¹

My own summer reading has been off to a bit of a slow start, but I have managed to get a few books in. After reading Tom Lake earlier this year, I heard so many people rave about how well done the audiobook was. So I went ahead and put it on hold, and it’s been delightful to listen to. I haven’t been a big re-reader in recent years (so many books! so little time!), but The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue was another re-read for me. I loved it when I read it a few years ago, so I was excited when my book club picked it for June—it was just as wonderful the second time around.

Most of the historical fiction I read is WWII, so it was a nice change of pace to read The Phoenix Crown, set during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

I will read anything Fredrik Backman writes (his Instagram captions are gold) but haven’t finished making my way through his backlist yet. A friend recommended listening to Things My Son Needs to Know About the World, which inspired me to pick up My Grandmother Asked You to Tell Me She’s Sorry from my bookshelf, where it’s been waiting patiently for me to get through the never-ending parade of library holds. I thoroughly enjoyed both books!

After reading The Anxious Generation (highly recommend), I’ve been thinking a lot about how to increase real-world independence for my kids. I’ve been looking for opportunities to let my ten-year-old run into the store with cash instead of hauling all three kids out when we just need one thing. I’ve sent my eight-year-old into the library to pick up a book by himself. (Have I been idling in my minivan right by the door, anxiously watching until they come back out? Yes, but it’s progress!)

I was excited to see a shoutout to summer camp in the book—as someone who grew up going to and later working at a summer camp, I’m a big advocate for the independence kids get from the camp experience. My ten-year-old will be going to camp for the third time this year, and my eight-year-old for his first, so I loved this post on Why Kids Need Summer Camp.

So that’s our summer plan: creativity, reading, independence. And lots of time at the pool. Summer is my favorite season, and we are fully embracing it.

1. So far we’ve been through the entire Magic Treehouse series, most of Dragon Masters, the Ralph S. Mouse collection, and have started on the Ballpark Mysteries series. In our queue: The Chronicles of Narnia, The Wild Robot trilogy, the Boxcar Children, Wayside School, Henry Huggins, and some Roald Dahl. (If there are any audiobooks your elementary schoolers have loved that I should add to our list, please let me know in the comments!)

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