May 20, 2025 • 33 mins
In today's episode, Laura and Sarah discuss all things summer, with the format of:
- 5 ways to celebrate the kickoff of summer
- 5 summer challenges
- 5 things they want to do
- 5 summer-themed loves of the week!
In the Q&A, they discuss the common dilemma of handling that last week of summer before school starts (when camp options are sparse!)
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hi.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
I'm Laura Vanderkamp. I'm a mother of five, an author, journalist,
and speaker.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
And I'm Sarah Hart Hunger, a mother of three, practicing physician, writer,
and courtse creator. We are two working parents who love
our careers and our families.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Welcome to best of both worlds. Here we talk about
how real women manage work, family, and time for fun.
From figuring out childcare to mapping out long.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Term career goals.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
We want you to get the most out of life.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Welcome to best of both worlds. This is Laura.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
This episode is airing on May twentieth, which, by the way,
is Sarah's birthday. And also, I believe we have never
had an episode air on May twentieth before, because I
can tell you that the twenty twenty five date cycle.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Goes back to like twenty fourteen. This is a first
for us. Sarah, Happy birthday.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
That's so funny. Maybe I've had a best laid plans
on my birthday.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
I'm sure you've had a bestide plans, but there has
not been a Tuesday that has been May twentieth since
quite a while.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
We're exciting. Well, if you want to give you a
birthday gift, you can leave our podcast a wonderful review.
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yes, that would be great. We would love that.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
So yeah, feel free go to Apple Podcasts or wherever
you get your podcasts. Right about how amazing Sarah is,
I mean, you could say I am too, but it's
her birthday.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
So throw that in.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
We would really appreciate it. Well, this is our annual
summer episode. We've been doing summer episodes for a long time.
This is going to have a bit of a Top
five theme to hopefully shake things up from the last
time we've been talking about summer, if not on May twentieth,
but on other days around now.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
What are you really looking forward to this summer?
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Sarah? Yeah, so I feel like we have a pretty
busy summer. But the highlights I'm looking forward to is
we always take a family trip. This year, we're going
to go to New End and I also am hoping
to see my college friends this summer. The destination is
tbd because we might go somewhere or they might actually
come to me, which they offered after my little cardiac incident,
(02:12):
so to be determined. But I'm very excited to see them.
And then the other thing is I'm just excited that
we won't have any really late night kid activities. Yeah,
we will have like seven thirty pm pickups, but since
we've been used to the nine pm pickups, that is like,
that sounds amazing and it's not even every single night.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
So wow, excellent, excellent.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Well, you had tried to go to you had been
thinking about going to New England last summer, right, and
then you guys pivoted to sort of the Pacific Northwest.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Because of Olivia Rogers.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Yet, oh that's trick. Well, you know, and that was.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Specifically her tour did not coincide with where I wanted
to go, and I was like, you know what, you
know what's also nice and cool in the summer, Seattle.
So we went to Seattle. But this time we're going
to make the New England trip happen even without a
pop star concert.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
What part are you going to? I mean, like Maine
or you know what.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
We have settled on New Hampshire so you can send
me your New Hampshire White Mountains recommendations.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yeah, well, I mean, as I were looking forward to
summer from the beginning of it. Here I always have
to remind myself it's less time than I think it
will be.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Some points in life I think I have less time
than I do as summer for our summerson, I always
feel like there's more time in the summer than there
actually is, this vision of an endless summer, but it
really won't be. Jasper and I are starting the summer
with a choir tour, so that will be an experience.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
I think it'll be a lot of fun. I hope
it will be.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
And we end the summer with our time at the beach,
which is always great, but there will also be a
chunk of time where we will probably be taking Jasper
to his next stage or whatever university he is at,
which as we're recording this at the end of April,
has not one hundred percent been determined, so more on
that later.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
But we will be doing that.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
But I realized, like you know, so there's like a
two month chunk, like there's less than that's less than
two months between when I get back from the choir
trip and when we go to the beach, and within
those times, like some of the weekends, we're going to
have to be transporting kids camp like Alex Is going
to a two week camp, or it's going to one
week camp, Like, there's a lot of transaction costs in
getting to and from camp, so you know it'll be good.
(04:10):
But there's less time in summer than one might imagine.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
I guess, yeah, our summers aren't even that long. I
feel like they're like ten weeks. They're not even like
a full three months where we live.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Yeah. Yeah, but you said summer is coming, Winter is
that's the winter is coming, right?
Speaker 1 (04:27):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
As I was thinking of creative ideas for the episode,
because again we have to mix things up. We talk
about summer most years, and my initial thought was like,
winter is coming like Game of Thrones, and then I
was like, accept better. But then I was like, well,
I fear me it's worse because I was just highlighting
the fact that summer is not our best weather season.
As we will get into it during the challenges section,
(04:48):
but first let's be positive and talk about top five
ideas or just five ideas for celebrating the kickoff of summer.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
All right, well you had some of these and I
had some, so let's start with yours.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Sure, So our summer kickoff has been a traditional family
dinner right after school ends at the melting pot.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Not known as a summer cuisine by the way.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
No no, but it is indoors, so for us, that's
sort of summer.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
No.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
My kids just really like it. They think it's like
the pinnacle of celebration. It's just like so specific, and
now that we've done it so many times, they're just like, yep,
that's what we do at the end of the school year.
So I've gotten to like really associate it, and it's
just like fun. I think one could also decide to
be like social and do an end of the school
year bash with neighbors. I've always thought that was like
a fun idea for us, though, like doing an outdoor
(05:39):
bash right now is like less favorable or a little risky.
So yeah, melting pot is our summer kickoff, all right.
My second idea is to have fun making a summer
reading list. And this can be done before the start
of summer, but whenever you feel ready to do it.
But it can be nice to have some beachy light
reads to look forward to. And there are number of
(06:00):
book curators who come out with summer reading lists We've
talked a lot about and Bogul who does Modern Missus,
Darcy and I feel like there's so many other awesome
like book casters and books to gram people, and probably
there's a lot of resources for this, but I have
a lot of fun making a summer reading list and
then starting to reserve a bunch of holds all at once,
which then come from the library and it's just kind
of festive. And then my third idea is to spend
(06:24):
some time planning your summer fun. Sorry I had to
get it in there, but this can be a reminder
that as you are kicking off summer, to make sure
you have a session where you really think about what
you want those rhythms to look like, because summer is
a season that is usually kind of different. Like when
you go into spring, you're like, okay, fine, where it's
a continuation February, March, whatever, But summer often different drop offs,
(06:46):
different schedules and people, different works, et cetera. So really
thinking about how you might make the most of those
changes and the sort of specialness of the season can
set you up for success.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Well, and part of that would be like making your
ideal weak, right, that might be a good time to
revisit what your realistic ideal week would be.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Yes, definitely, a great seasonal activity, and I think more
important for seasons where things change. So for me that's
actually like summer and the start of school. Those are
the two biggies.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Yeah, well, like you were saying, I mean, because now
you have no evening events, so you start thinking about, Okay,
well what could I do between seven thirty and nine
thirty if I'm not driving around to places. I mean,
that's a chunk of time that is usable in a
way that maybe was not. So I'll go with number
four in our top five here wardrobe revamped for places
with definite seasons.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Now, Sarah is not in a.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Place where you switch out your clothes I guess from
summer to winter so much.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
But for those of us who are this.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Can be marking, like an actual marked moment, right, Like
you switch the sweaters out of your closet and maybe
get them cleaned and stored for the summer. This is
when you move your coat from the mudroom into a closet,
so it's not something you're dealing with every day.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
The way out the door.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Maybe you switch out your shoes, like if you had
boots for winter or sort of bigger shoes that you're wearing.
This might be when you bring the sandals out and
put them into the by the door rotation. Obviously, if
you want to go shopping, this could be a time
to think about what you're hoping to be looking like
in the summer or what you need in your wardrobe
(08:21):
and try to fill those pieces. But that can just
be a way to honor the change of the seasons.
I mean, are you doing this? I mean, even though
you're not.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
I well, you'll hear on my list of things I
want to do for summer involve getting some summary type clothing.
And again, this is one of those things where like
we don't need it, but sometimes I want to lean
into those seasonal rituals because I miss the seasonality, so
I need to like make it even if there's no
actual real reason. So yeah, I love that one.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
And then the other one.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Number five is to consider slightly tweaking your work hours.
And this can be part of the ideal week schedule
as well, but if you are not necessarily working for
an organization that requires set hours, like you have to
be in an office from nine to five or something
like that, it might be possible to tweak this to
(09:10):
work slightly differently, like maybe you want to start work
earlier if that's something that would be more helpful for
your schedule, and then end work earlier and have more
of the summer afternoon and evening available to you.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Or maybe it's that you work.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
A little longer Monday through Thursday and then take a
half day on Friday. Or maybe it's that you don't
work on Fridays and you work ten hour days Monday
through Thursday.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Or maybe you work somewhere that already has.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Summer Fridays, like it's a half day and that's an expectation.
But figure out how you might consciously tweak your work
hours to meet more of the summer rhythms.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
You could also do that with PTO. So if you
are someone who doesn't use all your dais each year
and kind of look for like I just don't really
need it, then one fun way to do it might
be to like take a half day every Friday from
like I don't know, Memorial Day to Labor Day or
something really cool like that. So, yeah, can get creative
with it.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
You can.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Well, what about the five summer challenges Sarah? With our
top five? What are some of your challenges with this?
Speaker 3 (10:13):
Well, the obvious one here is the challenge of childcare.
So for those that kind of are used to having school,
school is not childcare, but it can still serve as
a useful backbone for many months of the year, and
you lose that over the summer, especially with older kids.
Sometimes daycares and stuff. It's not actually an issue, but
for the older kids. And now I'm in this new
(10:34):
frontier of like the dreaded like teen summer because I
feel like I've always been able to very easily find
camps that appeal to my kids when they're younger, but
suddenly day camp is a little bit less popular in
that kind of teen age group. And yet there are
not necessarily a lot of like internships or we've talked
about there are summer programs and stuff, but I've just
(10:55):
found it to be more of a challenge. So one
thing we are doing is that all three of my
kids are going to Monday through Friday camp for three
weeks at the same time. This is probably the only
year that will ever happen, and they all really really
wanted to go, so I think they'll have a great time,
and then Josh and I will get to experience some
together time, which would be really.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Yeah, empty nest.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
It's Monday through Friday, so ken you're kind of working
during that time probably, although maybe you guys could take
a day off or something. I don't know.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Yeah, we're gonna do a little traveling and stuff, so
I think it'd be good.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
That'd be exciting.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
And then we did do a mix of kind of
specialty day camps for the younger two kids, and then
we still have our nanny and I mean, Annabell can
be home alone sometimes as well, so we're being a
little bit more flexible with it, but definitely something that
always needs to be thought through ahead of time.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
How's your spreadsheet, Laura, Yeah, well I have the spreadsheet
for sure. I do a camp spreadsheet every summer. Although
for the older kids, I feel like to some degree
Jasper and Sam, it's not so much my issue anymore.
I don't entirely know what Jasper's going to be doing.
But again, we don't have that many weeks, so we
shall see on that front. Sam is taking two online
classes to fulfill some requirements that will free up space
(12:02):
in his schedule next year, so he will be spending
most of his time on that. Ruth is signed up
for a couple of camps. She's going to try Sleepway
camp for a week with a friend. She's doing a
theater camp for two weeks. She's also volunteering our vacation
Bible school, which Alex and Henry will be at, which
was fun thing. Alex has signed up for camp the
(12:24):
whole summer. It's partly that he likes to do stuff.
He likes to lots of different camp related kind of things,
and I think it's also good for him to have
camps because otherwise he will be on his iPad all day.
And then Henry is in a few things. But we
also have our nanny through the summer, so they'll probably
be doing playgrounds, trips to.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Sesame place, various other things like that.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
But yeah, spreadsheet as usual, weeks of the summer down
the left hand side, kids along the top. It just
is very helpful to kind of keep track and see
the whole summer at a glance and know what people
are doing.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
And so when.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Somebody's like, oh, could we come visit you this time,
it'll be like, yes, I should tell you that these
two kids will not be with us, but that's fine,
But so you know, but you can tell that instantly
looking at it as opposed to like sort of hunting
through your calendar and trying to figure it all out.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
No, I did the same thing, and partly for also
like drop off stuff, like if all three kids want
to do different things, is that realistic if they're all
in different parts of town. No, So it helps me
to know like what to line up with what.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
All right, Well let's take a quick ad break and
then we'll be back with more on summer challenges.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
All right, our next summer challenge is kind of related,
especially if you have chosen not to kind of program
a lot of your kids summer via camps, and that
is sometimes it just gets a little old where there's
like too much free time and not enough structure. I
don't really have a solution for that, but I just
want to like mention it because I think that sometimes
(14:07):
it seems impossible, and yet we often get to a
certain point where we're like, oh my god, when is school?
And so maybe I guess that's like a note to
myself though, like if I worry that I'm overscheduling the kids,
I'm probably not because I don't like to get to
this point.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Yeah, yeah, No, I know that there's like a beam
on Instagram where people are like, Okay, we in this June,
Like the June mom is like, oh, we're going to
the splash Pad, We're going to the you know, children's museum,
We're going to the amusement park. And then like by
late July, you're like, yeah, you know, Netflix is your
parent now, so it can happen, which is why there
(14:43):
is an upside to having some structure. But there's also
been the challenge of managing screen time and particularly with
when kids don't have something they have to be up
for at a certain time and the way. I am
very curious to see how my older children, who don't
have so much structure this summer, what their sleep schedules
(15:04):
are going to look like.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Yeah, we've already actually addressed this because like out about hostymnastics,
but it doesn't start till four pm, and so that's
not much of a deadline. So we've already talked about like, Okay,
we're going to have to think about like a reasonable
time to get up and what we're going to want
to do before then and stuff like that. And I
know it's going to be a challenge because they're of
that age where they're kind of driven to stay up
(15:27):
later and lead. And I know it for my patients,
I know exactly when they're sleeping again, like I can
tell from the diabetes pump downloads who's staying up till
five in the morning and going to bed at like
the middle of anyway, So I know what happens. It's
a challenge, and I think it does happen. I think
managing screen time goes hand in hand with this, because
(15:47):
one thing that keeps kids up extremely late is like
having access to very exciting content twenty four to seven
on the screen. So I mean, in our house, we
continue to have discussions about this. We go up and down,
but right now we're kind of in a lower screen phase.
And it's honestly the kids have kind of most of
(16:08):
the kids have embraced it.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Yeah, I know that's something I need to think about,
and I will talk with my older kids about and say, I.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Mean, because I wouldn't bother me so much if they're
up at random times, if they stay in their room.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
But the problem is like that people want snacks and
they're like down and then the lights are all on
in the kitchen again, and you know it's just all right.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
You're like, it's two in the morning.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
It's two in the morning, don't move if you're going
to be in your room reading, I don't care.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
But past that, the next challenge is mostly for you.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
I mean the It's not just me, okay, it's for
anyone in Texas, anyone in Arizona, anyone in like Louisiana, Mississippi.
There are a lot of parts of the United States
in particular that are disgusting in the summer. I'm just
saying it's not just me.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
That could be. That could be. We tend not to
be so bad here.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
We have like a few days that will be ridiculous,
but yes, that could be a challenge. So making sure
to stay cool, having indoor opportunities.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
Yeah, remembering that you can't summer can't Like, I actually
do better if I'm like, you know what, this is
the cozy season. Not to be disappointed by the thunderstorms,
but to like expect them and be like this is
a great backdrop to movie night, and like this is
when we stay inside because guess what, all winter we
can go and do whatever we want, which is wonderful.
So I think sometimes just owning it rather than fighting.
(17:24):
It has actually helped in our case anyway.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
And then this last challenge. I guess I hadn't really
thought about this so much, but the.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Challenge of having projects to manage over the summer, like
kids summer projects.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Is that something that you guys have had.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
I feel like I learned it partly from you, Like
you've had kids who were in courses, Yeah, and then
it's like how much do you micromanage? How much do
you just let them maybe leave things?
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Well we met, Yes, that has actually been an you know,
I've had children take online courses over the summer in
the past, and it has been a constant thing or like, okay,
what percent are you through?
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Now?
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Have we talked about the fact that we're traveling this
week and so if you haven't gotten to this, you're
going to be way behind.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
I will say, everyone.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Has finished what they are supposed to do in the past,
and so I trust that it will happen. However, I
probably get a little bit more anxious about it because
to me, I'm like, well, why don't you get ahead?
Like what would be the problem of getting ahead? As
opposed to people who feel like, you know, as long
as you're within a few percentages of where you should be.
(18:25):
You could get to there where you should be with
a concerted effort.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
I don't know, maybe just different different philosophies of life.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
Yes, And even like my elementary age kids, we often
have like a book assigned that they have to read
over the summer, and then inevitably my kids are like,
I have all summer to read that, and then we're
traveling at the very end and they're like, I forgot
the book.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
The book now, so suddenly reading I don't know, pride
and prejudice in the last two.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
Days exactly, So that can be a challenge. I mean again,
maybe they'll learn some time management lessons that's okay, and
maybe they learn what we're for them in terms of
leaving just enough time to do something, et cetera. I've
also heard of scenarios where kids are like in a
sport and they're told to train or something like that.
I'm like, you're like, you're just watching them not train,
(19:11):
thinking like, oh, it's going to be so miserable for you,
but like I can't make you do it. Yeah, but
I haven't experienced personally yet.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
With cross country, there you go the amount of running
that has happened since the end of the cross country
send may have been minimal, but you know it'll snap back,
it'll stop back, all right. So the next section is
going to be our Summer Fundless, a couple of you know,
top five items on our Summer Fundless. Longtime listeners know
(19:40):
that Sarah and I both make Summer fundless. These are
things we want to do over the summer to make
summer feel like summer for us. So I have a
couple I Am going to try to make it to
this Dollhouse furniture store that happens to be in New Bedford,
which is also known to speak of summer reading as
(20:00):
where Moby Dick happens. So if anyone's tackling that as
a summer reading project, you could visit New Bedford. But
you could also do that to see this famous Dolphouse
store that is in New Bedford. I have to be
in Boston for something in the middle of the summer,
so I'm thinking possibly I will drive and then I
could stop there on the way there, and I got.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
To stop there on the way back if I wanted to.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
I am going to go to some sort of concert.
I want to go to some sort of concert. I
have not figured out yet what that is. Last summer
I had the amazing time of going to see Taylor
Swift in Paris, although that was in May, and then
seeing Olivia Rodrigo in July, which was also awesome.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
But I have none of that planned for this summer.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
And I would like to see something because you know,
outdoors or even in a state indoor, but.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Summer music is like it's concert season.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
Right, totally. I have a concert. Well we're not going
to skip ahead to my list, but I'm going to
be seeing Amy Mann in Durham, which is probably not
on everyone's bucket list, but I'm so excited.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Okay, excity, Okay, well I have to figure out like
who i'd want to see you.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
At this point, I'm not entirely sure what that is, right,
I guess I'll do some perusal on that.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
I want to go to a Phillies game because I
need to complete my Philly sports trifecta. And we went
to the Eagles, we went to the Sixers. We need
to get on to there. I want to spend some
time on the hammock, and I want to make sure
to spend some solo time in the pool. So I
(21:26):
spend a lot of time supervising other people in the pool,
but I do not spend a lot of time on
my own in the pool.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
And I like being on my own in the pool.
So you know, there we go.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
I love it. So you have cultivated your little are
those last two are part of your quote little habits
of relaxation? Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Yes, cultivating a Saturday vibe, that's what I have to
think of summer the Tianna. If maybe like June is
the Friday night of summer, July is Saturday, August is Sunday.
But you know, in general, we want to cultivate a
weekend vibe for this summer.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
And September is Labor Day, literally this Monday. Get back
to work, all right? So my five things I already
mentioned one which I want to see some live music,
and yes I already have tickets, so that one, hopefully
I can check off the list. I do need to
see my parents and sister, that is important, upgrade my
and my niece. Sorry did not want to come out here,
(22:15):
I think so all right. I didn't specifically say Philadelphia
because like if we could all meet at the shore
or something, but I think it'll probably just be me
coming to Philly with the kids and or Josh depending
on his call schedule. I want to upgrade my travel stuff,
so I might even replace my Way suitcase with another
a Way suitcase so away if you listen. I'm just kidding.
I would just buy it. But I love that suitcase,
(22:37):
but I kind of want the slightly bigger one. And
I just want to have like a really streamlined like
kid with my cousband because I just feel like I
have a lot of travel calming and I just I
don't like my setup. So I'm gonna upgrade my travel stuff.
I want to watch a TV show with the kids.
I don't know what, but something. And then I had
on my summer this is not really summer fun, but
like I do want to like have fun by getting
(23:01):
some new summer wardrobe pieces. So I feel like I
need a new pair of shorts because I feel like
my old ones are looking dated. I want a summer dress,
and I know that's like a thing and not an experience,
but like having a cute outfit makes experiences more fun,
so it goes hand in hand. And I feel like
I want a new pair of sandals, So yeah, those
are my five things.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
All right, Well we'll take one more quick ad break
and then we'll be back with a little bit more
of our summer extravaganza.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
Here.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Well, we are back.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
We're talking all things summer. We've had sort of a
top five approach to this. I will say I wasn't
sure where to put some of this needs to happen
summer project kind of thing. But Henry needs to learn
how to swim like that absolutely has to happen this summer,
So we'll try to push that over the top.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
He likes being in the water. He loves snorkeling.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
We were in Hawaii of our spring break. He liked
snorkling a lot. But of course he has to have
his little swimmys on to do it. So we shall
see if we can maybe motivate him to get over
the top with the swim lessons.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
Absolutely, especially because you have a pool. I think, yeah,
it's super in Florida, Like, yeah, you're like in a
hurry because you're so scared that there'll be some social
gathering where things will be crazy. So I bet this
will be the summer he will get it. Maybe at
camp too, they'll reinforce swims yeah, that's true.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
He hit one of the camps he goes to.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
They did do swim lessons for the little guys, and
so hopefully that will help as well. And I think
some sort of peer pressure will kicking because I think
probably when you're in like a five and six year
old camp, a good number of the six year olds
at least should be swimming.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
So one hundred percent, as a former counselor of the
five year olds and or six year olds various years,
five was like the age where a lot of them
like got their deep end certification. Yeah, so he'll do
it all right, So oh, any other like need to
do use.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Well getting Jasper launched right, you know, we have to
figure out what he needs for college, which I don't
even one of the things that's unshown because as we're
recording this again, I don't know one hundred percent sure
know where he's going, and I don't know what the
timeline will be for that, because some colleges have you
move in in August, some have you move in September,
(25:21):
and if you don't know that date, it's kind of
hard to plan the end of your summer show TVD
on that.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
But sort of the leading contender at the moment.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
It would be sort of mid to late August, so
that we'd be sort of figuring that out. What he
needs again, kind of the life skills that are important
for college.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
We have to some discussion of that this summer and
get him set up with that.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
You know, lots of things. But that's definitely a summer
project too.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
That is a very bittersweet but also exciting summer project.
All right, Well, we have a five top mo months
top five summer Love of the Week. All right, you start,
Sarah Love of the Week number one, Ben's mosquito repellent.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Yeah, I got this last summer.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Okay, because you had raved about it, I can't say
that I noticed a huge difference between that the other.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
What do you like about it? You think it's more effective?
Speaker 3 (26:15):
I think it worked well. I am like the mosquito
magnet of all mosquito magnets, So like, if it's subtly
better than something else, I will notice, probably before anybody
else would notice. Like I joke that there could be
like one mosquito in the state and it will like
find me specifically. So for me, it's absolutely like makes
a difference. I mean, there might be others that are
almost as good, but for me, Ben's all the way,
(26:36):
so I always stay stocked in that not a sponsor,
just ordered online and I think I learned about it
on Consumer Reports or Wirecutter or something like that. Number
two classic Birkenstocks. Love them, loved them when I was
like fourteen, love them much older. My T shirt favorite
brand is Marine Layer. They seem to last multiple, multiple seasons,
(26:58):
so I have some going strong from like a few
years ago, which I feel like T shirts don't usually
hold their shape and stuff that long. So yay, throw
on out to Italian Ice because it's just such a
fun Stumm. Rita's is okay.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
There's Rita's like a mile and a half from Sarah's
parents home by the way.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Yes, that was a common stop on my walk home
from school as soon as we got past maybe April
or so, and it is okay, But we have Jeremiahs
down here and we have Rita's too. Jeremiah's is like
a little better, so sorry, I'll just say in general
Italian Ice. And then finally, I do love good or
sunglasses because they're like twenty dollars but they like look
kind of cute. And you don't have to stress if
(27:37):
you lose them, which I did. I left a pair
on Slinky Dog Dash at Disney World, So that's actually
not the first time I've left a pair on a
disney World ride. But the other time they were like
fancy designer ones, so I had to like go find them,
which I did, but it was so stressful, and this
time I was like, Eh, anyway, it's fine.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
You put them in that little pocket in the front
like for roller coasters.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Yeah. Then you like when they're saying, please take your belongings,
You're like, well, I'm doing that.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
Apparently you didn't listen to that.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
I grabbed my bag with like my wallet and stuff,
but I did. I forgot that I had my sunglasses
separate from said bag. Yeah, but oh, it happens.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
It totally happens, especially if you're like hurting three other
people off the roller coaster with you, and then yeah,
whether you have your bag or not may not be
the first thing you're thinking of. All right, So my
top five I am going to say, honeysuckle, beer gardens.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
I like beer gardens.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
I'm just so you know, fun about being outside and
they feel festive and it's in the evening, so it's
you know, an excuse to be outside waking up later,
so me not being a natural morning person, It's not
been as bad this year because they shifted the school
start times so most mornings we do not need.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
To wake up before seven, which is lovely.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
And even if we are waking up on the early side,
like our early shifted routine is six forty, which is
still not that early, but still this summer.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
Doesn't even have to do that. So you know, if
the kids are going.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
To camp at like nine, nobody really has to wake
up before eight. I'm feeling like I could get up
at seven and get a lot of stuff done before
anyone else is up, and that could be amazing. Maybe
I'll start being a morning exerciser. Maybe not because it's
not I mean, if you're gonna rint outside, I guess
you need to do it in the early morning and summer.
But we'll see, we'll see waking up later. Anything grilled
(29:23):
grilled food is good. I think we should try to
experiment with this this summer, you know, beyond the basic proteins.
Maybe some like grilling lettuce leaves and making a char
grilled salad or you know, various vegetables.
Speaker 3 (29:35):
I was going to suggest octopus.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Octopus.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Well, I like octopus, and I'm sure it's good on
the grill. Yeah, And then different combos of kids at home.
This is just one of the fun parts of summer
when you have some kids who are going to sleep
away camps, as you wind up with like a totally different,
random assortment of children, when you have five kids who
might be home at any given point, and so it
just changes the dynamic and interesting ways.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
And I kind of I'm here for it.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
I like seeing what the dynamic would be if you
had this, this and this age, or if you only
had these two, or if you had tho wan.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
So it'll be kind of fun to see. All right.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
So question this week what to do with the last
week of summer. There are often no camps by the
last week of summer, So Sarah, what's your general approach
for this?
Speaker 3 (30:22):
I have nothing good this year. I'm going to be honest, Like,
so last year we did travel, like we made that
our family vacation. I don't know if you remember. It
was like the most horrendous phase. We had other stuff
going on too. But then I had like call week
and then I went straight to vacation or maybe it
was vacation to call to school, whatever it was. It
didn't work. So I was like, I'm never doing that again,
and so I booked our family vacation for June this year,
(30:43):
like the beginning of the summer instead, when there's also
not a lot of camps by the way, So it's
like you can have your issue on either end. So
our strategy is just going to be like really relaxed, careful,
getting ready for school kind of stuff. I mean, I'm
going to be working, but like on my more flexible days,
I imagine like doing the back to school shopping, make
sure the kids have what they need, because I felt
like we just didn't have time for that last year,
(31:05):
and I really felt it.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
Yeah, I think this is a challenge for people who
are also like if camp has kind of been your
child care over the summer, then having that gap in
the last week week and a half is it's challenging. Obviously,
you can make it a vacation week, though, then that is,
as Sarah said, the trouble of having it go right
back into school.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
You could possibly bring your kids.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
To family if that is an option, if you have
relatives who enjoy spending time with your children and they're
amenable to it. Maybe that could be a week that
gets spent with grandparents or something like that. You might
be able to trade off, like if you are working
and you have other families in the same boot near you, Like,
if you think about it, if you had three families,
(31:48):
you could work out a situation where each parent takes
one day that would cover six days. You'd only have
to take one day off, and then the kids would
be able to do something with the parent who was
off on that particular day.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
Would probably be a pretty fun experience for those kids.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
But that might be a way to cover for everyone
and still have a good experience but not have to
burn through whatever limited PTO people might have.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
Yeah, I like that. That's fun. And another idea I
did have is that, especially if you have a kid
that's switching, either going to a new school or like
moving off a level in school, orchestrating some kind of
friend hangout for kids to see their friends if they
didn't see them during the summer, it can be like
ease everybody in it can be social and then they can,
like I don't know, kind of feel more ready. Yeah, socially, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
To start the new thing.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
All right, Well, this has been best of both worlds.
We have been talking all things summer. We are, you
know our top fives in various different categories. If you
have ideas of wonderful things you'll be doing this summer
you want to share with us, please let us know.
And again, remember it is Sarah's birthday when this episode
is airing, so please give us a happy birthday review.
(32:54):
Wherever you get your podcasts, we would appreciate that. We
will be back next week with more on making work
and life together.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
Thanks for listening. You can find me Sarah at the
shoebox dot com or at the Underscore Shoebox on Instagram,
and you.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
Can find me Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. This
has been the best of both worlds podcasts. Please join
us next time for more on making work and life
work together.
Hi.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
I'm Laura Vanderkamp. I'm a mother of five, an author, journalist,
and speaker.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
And I'm Sarah Hart Hunger, a mother of three, practicing physician, writer,
and courtse creator. We are two working parents who love
our careers and our families.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Welcome to best of both worlds. Here we talk about
how real women manage work, family, and time for fun.
From figuring out childcare to mapping out long.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Term career goals.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
We want you to get the most out of life.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Welcome to best of both worlds. This is Laura.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
This episode is airing on May twentieth, which, by the way,
is Sarah's birthday. And also, I believe we have never
had an episode air on May twentieth before, because I
can tell you that the twenty twenty five date cycle.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Goes back to like twenty fourteen. This is a first
for us. Sarah, Happy birthday.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
That's so funny. Maybe I've had a best laid plans
on my birthday.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
I'm sure you've had a bestide plans, but there has
not been a Tuesday that has been May twentieth since
quite a while.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
We're exciting. Well, if you want to give you a
birthday gift, you can leave our podcast a wonderful review.
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yes, that would be great. We would love that.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
So yeah, feel free go to Apple Podcasts or wherever
you get your podcasts. Right about how amazing Sarah is,
I mean, you could say I am too, but it's
her birthday.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
So throw that in.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
We would really appreciate it. Well, this is our annual
summer episode. We've been doing summer episodes for a long time.
This is going to have a bit of a Top
five theme to hopefully shake things up from the last
time we've been talking about summer, if not on May twentieth,
but on other days around now.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
What are you really looking forward to this summer?
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Sarah? Yeah, so I feel like we have a pretty
busy summer. But the highlights I'm looking forward to is
we always take a family trip. This year, we're going
to go to New End and I also am hoping
to see my college friends this summer. The destination is
tbd because we might go somewhere or they might actually
come to me, which they offered after my little cardiac incident,
(02:12):
so to be determined. But I'm very excited to see them.
And then the other thing is I'm just excited that
we won't have any really late night kid activities. Yeah,
we will have like seven thirty pm pickups, but since
we've been used to the nine pm pickups, that is like,
that sounds amazing and it's not even every single night.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
So wow, excellent, excellent.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Well, you had tried to go to you had been
thinking about going to New England last summer, right, and
then you guys pivoted to sort of the Pacific Northwest.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Because of Olivia Rogers.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Yet, oh that's trick. Well, you know, and that was.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Specifically her tour did not coincide with where I wanted
to go, and I was like, you know what, you
know what's also nice and cool in the summer, Seattle.
So we went to Seattle. But this time we're going
to make the New England trip happen even without a
pop star concert.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
What part are you going to? I mean, like Maine
or you know what.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
We have settled on New Hampshire so you can send
me your New Hampshire White Mountains recommendations.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yeah, well, I mean, as I were looking forward to
summer from the beginning of it. Here I always have
to remind myself it's less time than I think it
will be.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Some points in life I think I have less time
than I do as summer for our summerson, I always
feel like there's more time in the summer than there
actually is, this vision of an endless summer, but it
really won't be. Jasper and I are starting the summer
with a choir tour, so that will be an experience.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
I think it'll be a lot of fun. I hope
it will be.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
And we end the summer with our time at the beach,
which is always great, but there will also be a
chunk of time where we will probably be taking Jasper
to his next stage or whatever university he is at,
which as we're recording this at the end of April,
has not one hundred percent been determined, so more on
that later.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
But we will be doing that.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
But I realized, like you know, so there's like a
two month chunk, like there's less than that's less than
two months between when I get back from the choir
trip and when we go to the beach, and within
those times, like some of the weekends, we're going to
have to be transporting kids camp like Alex Is going
to a two week camp, or it's going to one
week camp, Like, there's a lot of transaction costs in
getting to and from camp, so you know it'll be good.
(04:10):
But there's less time in summer than one might imagine.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
I guess, yeah, our summers aren't even that long. I
feel like they're like ten weeks. They're not even like
a full three months where we live.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Yeah. Yeah, but you said summer is coming, Winter is
that's the winter is coming, right?
Speaker 1 (04:27):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
As I was thinking of creative ideas for the episode,
because again we have to mix things up. We talk
about summer most years, and my initial thought was like,
winter is coming like Game of Thrones, and then I
was like, accept better. But then I was like, well,
I fear me it's worse because I was just highlighting
the fact that summer is not our best weather season.
As we will get into it during the challenges section,
(04:48):
but first let's be positive and talk about top five
ideas or just five ideas for celebrating the kickoff of summer.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
All right, well you had some of these and I
had some, so let's start with yours.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Sure, So our summer kickoff has been a traditional family
dinner right after school ends at the melting pot.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Not known as a summer cuisine by the way.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
No no, but it is indoors, so for us, that's
sort of summer.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
No.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
My kids just really like it. They think it's like
the pinnacle of celebration. It's just like so specific, and
now that we've done it so many times, they're just like, yep,
that's what we do at the end of the school year.
So I've gotten to like really associate it, and it's
just like fun. I think one could also decide to
be like social and do an end of the school
year bash with neighbors. I've always thought that was like
a fun idea for us, though, like doing an outdoor
(05:39):
bash right now is like less favorable or a little risky.
So yeah, melting pot is our summer kickoff, all right.
My second idea is to have fun making a summer
reading list. And this can be done before the start
of summer, but whenever you feel ready to do it.
But it can be nice to have some beachy light
reads to look forward to. And there are number of
(06:00):
book curators who come out with summer reading lists We've
talked a lot about and Bogul who does Modern Missus,
Darcy and I feel like there's so many other awesome
like book casters and books to gram people, and probably
there's a lot of resources for this, but I have
a lot of fun making a summer reading list and
then starting to reserve a bunch of holds all at once,
which then come from the library and it's just kind
of festive. And then my third idea is to spend
(06:24):
some time planning your summer fun. Sorry I had to
get it in there, but this can be a reminder
that as you are kicking off summer, to make sure
you have a session where you really think about what
you want those rhythms to look like, because summer is
a season that is usually kind of different. Like when
you go into spring, you're like, okay, fine, where it's
a continuation February, March, whatever, But summer often different drop offs,
(06:46):
different schedules and people, different works, et cetera. So really
thinking about how you might make the most of those
changes and the sort of specialness of the season can
set you up for success.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Well, and part of that would be like making your
ideal weak, right, that might be a good time to
revisit what your realistic ideal week would be.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Yes, definitely, a great seasonal activity, and I think more
important for seasons where things change. So for me that's
actually like summer and the start of school. Those are
the two biggies.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Yeah, well, like you were saying, I mean, because now
you have no evening events, so you start thinking about, Okay,
well what could I do between seven thirty and nine
thirty if I'm not driving around to places. I mean,
that's a chunk of time that is usable in a
way that maybe was not. So I'll go with number
four in our top five here wardrobe revamped for places
with definite seasons.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Now, Sarah is not in a.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Place where you switch out your clothes I guess from
summer to winter so much.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
But for those of us who are this.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Can be marking, like an actual marked moment, right, Like
you switch the sweaters out of your closet and maybe
get them cleaned and stored for the summer. This is
when you move your coat from the mudroom into a closet,
so it's not something you're dealing with every day.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
The way out the door.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Maybe you switch out your shoes, like if you had
boots for winter or sort of bigger shoes that you're wearing.
This might be when you bring the sandals out and
put them into the by the door rotation. Obviously, if
you want to go shopping, this could be a time
to think about what you're hoping to be looking like
in the summer or what you need in your wardrobe
(08:21):
and try to fill those pieces. But that can just
be a way to honor the change of the seasons.
I mean, are you doing this? I mean, even though
you're not.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
I well, you'll hear on my list of things I
want to do for summer involve getting some summary type clothing.
And again, this is one of those things where like
we don't need it, but sometimes I want to lean
into those seasonal rituals because I miss the seasonality, so
I need to like make it even if there's no
actual real reason. So yeah, I love that one.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
And then the other one.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Number five is to consider slightly tweaking your work hours.
And this can be part of the ideal week schedule
as well, but if you are not necessarily working for
an organization that requires set hours, like you have to
be in an office from nine to five or something
like that, it might be possible to tweak this to
(09:10):
work slightly differently, like maybe you want to start work
earlier if that's something that would be more helpful for
your schedule, and then end work earlier and have more
of the summer afternoon and evening available to you.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Or maybe it's that you work.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
A little longer Monday through Thursday and then take a
half day on Friday. Or maybe it's that you don't
work on Fridays and you work ten hour days Monday
through Thursday.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Or maybe you work somewhere that already has.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Summer Fridays, like it's a half day and that's an expectation.
But figure out how you might consciously tweak your work
hours to meet more of the summer rhythms.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
You could also do that with PTO. So if you
are someone who doesn't use all your dais each year
and kind of look for like I just don't really
need it, then one fun way to do it might
be to like take a half day every Friday from
like I don't know, Memorial Day to Labor Day or
something really cool like that. So, yeah, can get creative
with it.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
You can.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Well, what about the five summer challenges Sarah? With our
top five? What are some of your challenges with this?
Speaker 3 (10:13):
Well, the obvious one here is the challenge of childcare.
So for those that kind of are used to having school,
school is not childcare, but it can still serve as
a useful backbone for many months of the year, and
you lose that over the summer, especially with older kids.
Sometimes daycares and stuff. It's not actually an issue, but
for the older kids. And now I'm in this new
(10:34):
frontier of like the dreaded like teen summer because I
feel like I've always been able to very easily find
camps that appeal to my kids when they're younger, but
suddenly day camp is a little bit less popular in
that kind of teen age group. And yet there are
not necessarily a lot of like internships or we've talked
about there are summer programs and stuff, but I've just
(10:55):
found it to be more of a challenge. So one
thing we are doing is that all three of my
kids are going to Monday through Friday camp for three
weeks at the same time. This is probably the only
year that will ever happen, and they all really really
wanted to go, so I think they'll have a great time,
and then Josh and I will get to experience some
together time, which would be really.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Yeah, empty nest.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
It's Monday through Friday, so ken you're kind of working
during that time probably, although maybe you guys could take
a day off or something. I don't know.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Yeah, we're gonna do a little traveling and stuff, so
I think it'd be good.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
That'd be exciting.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
And then we did do a mix of kind of
specialty day camps for the younger two kids, and then
we still have our nanny and I mean, Annabell can
be home alone sometimes as well, so we're being a
little bit more flexible with it, but definitely something that
always needs to be thought through ahead of time.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
How's your spreadsheet, Laura, Yeah, well I have the spreadsheet
for sure. I do a camp spreadsheet every summer. Although
for the older kids, I feel like to some degree
Jasper and Sam, it's not so much my issue anymore.
I don't entirely know what Jasper's going to be doing.
But again, we don't have that many weeks, so we
shall see on that front. Sam is taking two online
classes to fulfill some requirements that will free up space
(12:02):
in his schedule next year, so he will be spending
most of his time on that. Ruth is signed up
for a couple of camps. She's going to try Sleepway
camp for a week with a friend. She's doing a
theater camp for two weeks. She's also volunteering our vacation
Bible school, which Alex and Henry will be at, which
was fun thing. Alex has signed up for camp the
(12:24):
whole summer. It's partly that he likes to do stuff.
He likes to lots of different camp related kind of things,
and I think it's also good for him to have
camps because otherwise he will be on his iPad all day.
And then Henry is in a few things. But we
also have our nanny through the summer, so they'll probably
be doing playgrounds, trips to.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Sesame place, various other things like that.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
But yeah, spreadsheet as usual, weeks of the summer down
the left hand side, kids along the top. It just
is very helpful to kind of keep track and see
the whole summer at a glance and know what people
are doing.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
And so when.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Somebody's like, oh, could we come visit you this time,
it'll be like, yes, I should tell you that these
two kids will not be with us, but that's fine,
But so you know, but you can tell that instantly
looking at it as opposed to like sort of hunting
through your calendar and trying to figure it all out.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
No, I did the same thing, and partly for also
like drop off stuff, like if all three kids want
to do different things, is that realistic if they're all
in different parts of town. No, So it helps me
to know like what to line up with what.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
All right, Well let's take a quick ad break and
then we'll be back with more on summer challenges.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
All right, our next summer challenge is kind of related,
especially if you have chosen not to kind of program
a lot of your kids summer via camps, and that
is sometimes it just gets a little old where there's
like too much free time and not enough structure. I
don't really have a solution for that, but I just
want to like mention it because I think that sometimes
(14:07):
it seems impossible, and yet we often get to a
certain point where we're like, oh my god, when is school?
And so maybe I guess that's like a note to
myself though, like if I worry that I'm overscheduling the kids,
I'm probably not because I don't like to get to
this point.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Yeah, yeah, No, I know that there's like a beam
on Instagram where people are like, Okay, we in this June,
Like the June mom is like, oh, we're going to
the splash Pad, We're going to the you know, children's museum,
We're going to the amusement park. And then like by
late July, you're like, yeah, you know, Netflix is your
parent now, so it can happen, which is why there
(14:43):
is an upside to having some structure. But there's also
been the challenge of managing screen time and particularly with
when kids don't have something they have to be up
for at a certain time and the way. I am
very curious to see how my older children, who don't
have so much structure this summer, what their sleep schedules
(15:04):
are going to look like.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Yeah, we've already actually addressed this because like out about hostymnastics,
but it doesn't start till four pm, and so that's
not much of a deadline. So we've already talked about like, Okay,
we're going to have to think about like a reasonable
time to get up and what we're going to want
to do before then and stuff like that. And I
know it's going to be a challenge because they're of
that age where they're kind of driven to stay up
(15:27):
later and lead. And I know it for my patients,
I know exactly when they're sleeping again, like I can
tell from the diabetes pump downloads who's staying up till
five in the morning and going to bed at like
the middle of anyway, So I know what happens. It's
a challenge, and I think it does happen. I think
managing screen time goes hand in hand with this, because
(15:47):
one thing that keeps kids up extremely late is like
having access to very exciting content twenty four to seven
on the screen. So I mean, in our house, we
continue to have discussions about this. We go up and down,
but right now we're kind of in a lower screen phase.
And it's honestly the kids have kind of most of
(16:08):
the kids have embraced it.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Yeah, I know that's something I need to think about,
and I will talk with my older kids about and say, I.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Mean, because I wouldn't bother me so much if they're
up at random times, if they stay in their room.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
But the problem is like that people want snacks and
they're like down and then the lights are all on
in the kitchen again, and you know it's just all right.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
You're like, it's two in the morning.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
It's two in the morning, don't move if you're going
to be in your room reading, I don't care.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
But past that, the next challenge is mostly for you.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
I mean the It's not just me, okay, it's for
anyone in Texas, anyone in Arizona, anyone in like Louisiana, Mississippi.
There are a lot of parts of the United States
in particular that are disgusting in the summer. I'm just
saying it's not just me.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
That could be. That could be. We tend not to
be so bad here.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
We have like a few days that will be ridiculous,
but yes, that could be a challenge. So making sure
to stay cool, having indoor opportunities.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
Yeah, remembering that you can't summer can't Like, I actually
do better if I'm like, you know what, this is
the cozy season. Not to be disappointed by the thunderstorms,
but to like expect them and be like this is
a great backdrop to movie night, and like this is
when we stay inside because guess what, all winter we
can go and do whatever we want, which is wonderful.
So I think sometimes just owning it rather than fighting.
(17:24):
It has actually helped in our case anyway.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
And then this last challenge. I guess I hadn't really
thought about this so much, but the.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Challenge of having projects to manage over the summer, like
kids summer projects.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Is that something that you guys have had.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
I feel like I learned it partly from you, Like
you've had kids who were in courses, Yeah, and then
it's like how much do you micromanage? How much do
you just let them maybe leave things?
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Well we met, Yes, that has actually been an you know,
I've had children take online courses over the summer in
the past, and it has been a constant thing or like, okay,
what percent are you through?
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Now?
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Have we talked about the fact that we're traveling this
week and so if you haven't gotten to this, you're
going to be way behind.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
I will say, everyone.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Has finished what they are supposed to do in the past,
and so I trust that it will happen. However, I
probably get a little bit more anxious about it because
to me, I'm like, well, why don't you get ahead?
Like what would be the problem of getting ahead? As
opposed to people who feel like, you know, as long
as you're within a few percentages of where you should be.
(18:25):
You could get to there where you should be with
a concerted effort.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
I don't know, maybe just different different philosophies of life.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
Yes, And even like my elementary age kids, we often
have like a book assigned that they have to read
over the summer, and then inevitably my kids are like,
I have all summer to read that, and then we're
traveling at the very end and they're like, I forgot
the book.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
The book now, so suddenly reading I don't know, pride
and prejudice in the last two.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
Days exactly, So that can be a challenge. I mean again,
maybe they'll learn some time management lessons that's okay, and
maybe they learn what we're for them in terms of
leaving just enough time to do something, et cetera. I've
also heard of scenarios where kids are like in a
sport and they're told to train or something like that.
I'm like, you're like, you're just watching them not train,
(19:11):
thinking like, oh, it's going to be so miserable for you,
but like I can't make you do it. Yeah, but
I haven't experienced personally yet.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
With cross country, there you go the amount of running
that has happened since the end of the cross country
send may have been minimal, but you know it'll snap back,
it'll stop back, all right. So the next section is
going to be our Summer Fundless, a couple of you know,
top five items on our Summer Fundless. Longtime listeners know
(19:40):
that Sarah and I both make Summer fundless. These are
things we want to do over the summer to make
summer feel like summer for us. So I have a
couple I Am going to try to make it to
this Dollhouse furniture store that happens to be in New Bedford,
which is also known to speak of summer reading as
(20:00):
where Moby Dick happens. So if anyone's tackling that as
a summer reading project, you could visit New Bedford. But
you could also do that to see this famous Dolphouse
store that is in New Bedford. I have to be
in Boston for something in the middle of the summer,
so I'm thinking possibly I will drive and then I
could stop there on the way there, and I got.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
To stop there on the way back if I wanted to.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
I am going to go to some sort of concert.
I want to go to some sort of concert. I
have not figured out yet what that is. Last summer
I had the amazing time of going to see Taylor
Swift in Paris, although that was in May, and then
seeing Olivia Rodrigo in July, which was also awesome.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
But I have none of that planned for this summer.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
And I would like to see something because you know,
outdoors or even in a state indoor, but.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Summer music is like it's concert season.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
Right, totally. I have a concert. Well we're not going
to skip ahead to my list, but I'm going to
be seeing Amy Mann in Durham, which is probably not
on everyone's bucket list, but I'm so excited.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Okay, excity, Okay, well I have to figure out like
who i'd want to see you.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
At this point, I'm not entirely sure what that is, right,
I guess I'll do some perusal on that.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
I want to go to a Phillies game because I
need to complete my Philly sports trifecta. And we went
to the Eagles, we went to the Sixers. We need
to get on to there. I want to spend some
time on the hammock, and I want to make sure
to spend some solo time in the pool. So I
(21:26):
spend a lot of time supervising other people in the pool,
but I do not spend a lot of time on
my own in the pool.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
And I like being on my own in the pool.
So you know, there we go.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
I love it. So you have cultivated your little are
those last two are part of your quote little habits
of relaxation? Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Yes, cultivating a Saturday vibe, that's what I have to
think of summer the Tianna. If maybe like June is
the Friday night of summer, July is Saturday, August is Sunday.
But you know, in general, we want to cultivate a
weekend vibe for this summer.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
And September is Labor Day, literally this Monday. Get back
to work, all right? So my five things I already
mentioned one which I want to see some live music,
and yes I already have tickets, so that one, hopefully
I can check off the list. I do need to
see my parents and sister, that is important, upgrade my
and my niece. Sorry did not want to come out here,
(22:15):
I think so all right. I didn't specifically say Philadelphia
because like if we could all meet at the shore
or something, but I think it'll probably just be me
coming to Philly with the kids and or Josh depending
on his call schedule. I want to upgrade my travel stuff,
so I might even replace my Way suitcase with another
a Way suitcase so away if you listen. I'm just kidding.
I would just buy it. But I love that suitcase,
(22:37):
but I kind of want the slightly bigger one. And
I just want to have like a really streamlined like
kid with my cousband because I just feel like I
have a lot of travel calming and I just I
don't like my setup. So I'm gonna upgrade my travel stuff.
I want to watch a TV show with the kids.
I don't know what, but something. And then I had
on my summer this is not really summer fun, but
like I do want to like have fun by getting
(23:01):
some new summer wardrobe pieces. So I feel like I
need a new pair of shorts because I feel like
my old ones are looking dated. I want a summer dress,
and I know that's like a thing and not an experience,
but like having a cute outfit makes experiences more fun,
so it goes hand in hand. And I feel like
I want a new pair of sandals, So yeah, those
are my five things.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
All right, Well we'll take one more quick ad break
and then we'll be back with a little bit more
of our summer extravaganza.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
Here.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Well, we are back.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
We're talking all things summer. We've had sort of a
top five approach to this. I will say I wasn't
sure where to put some of this needs to happen
summer project kind of thing. But Henry needs to learn
how to swim like that absolutely has to happen this summer,
So we'll try to push that over the top.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
He likes being in the water. He loves snorkeling.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
We were in Hawaii of our spring break. He liked
snorkling a lot. But of course he has to have
his little swimmys on to do it. So we shall
see if we can maybe motivate him to get over
the top with the swim lessons.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
Absolutely, especially because you have a pool. I think, yeah,
it's super in Florida, Like, yeah, you're like in a
hurry because you're so scared that there'll be some social
gathering where things will be crazy. So I bet this
will be the summer he will get it. Maybe at
camp too, they'll reinforce swims yeah, that's true.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
He hit one of the camps he goes to.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
They did do swim lessons for the little guys, and
so hopefully that will help as well. And I think
some sort of peer pressure will kicking because I think
probably when you're in like a five and six year
old camp, a good number of the six year olds
at least should be swimming.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
So one hundred percent, as a former counselor of the
five year olds and or six year olds various years,
five was like the age where a lot of them
like got their deep end certification. Yeah, so he'll do
it all right, So oh, any other like need to
do use.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Well getting Jasper launched right, you know, we have to
figure out what he needs for college, which I don't
even one of the things that's unshown because as we're
recording this again, I don't know one hundred percent sure
know where he's going, and I don't know what the
timeline will be for that, because some colleges have you
move in in August, some have you move in September,
(25:21):
and if you don't know that date, it's kind of
hard to plan the end of your summer show TVD
on that.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
But sort of the leading contender at the moment.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
It would be sort of mid to late August, so
that we'd be sort of figuring that out. What he
needs again, kind of the life skills that are important
for college.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
We have to some discussion of that this summer and
get him set up with that.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
You know, lots of things. But that's definitely a summer
project too.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
That is a very bittersweet but also exciting summer project.
All right, Well, we have a five top mo months
top five summer Love of the Week. All right, you start,
Sarah Love of the Week number one, Ben's mosquito repellent.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Yeah, I got this last summer.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Okay, because you had raved about it, I can't say
that I noticed a huge difference between that the other.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
What do you like about it? You think it's more effective?
Speaker 3 (26:15):
I think it worked well. I am like the mosquito
magnet of all mosquito magnets, So like, if it's subtly
better than something else, I will notice, probably before anybody
else would notice. Like I joke that there could be
like one mosquito in the state and it will like
find me specifically. So for me, it's absolutely like makes
a difference. I mean, there might be others that are
almost as good, but for me, Ben's all the way,
(26:36):
so I always stay stocked in that not a sponsor,
just ordered online and I think I learned about it
on Consumer Reports or Wirecutter or something like that. Number
two classic Birkenstocks. Love them, loved them when I was
like fourteen, love them much older. My T shirt favorite
brand is Marine Layer. They seem to last multiple, multiple seasons,
(26:58):
so I have some going strong from like a few
years ago, which I feel like T shirts don't usually
hold their shape and stuff that long. So yay, throw
on out to Italian Ice because it's just such a
fun Stumm. Rita's is okay.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
There's Rita's like a mile and a half from Sarah's
parents home by the way.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Yes, that was a common stop on my walk home
from school as soon as we got past maybe April
or so, and it is okay, But we have Jeremiahs
down here and we have Rita's too. Jeremiah's is like
a little better, so sorry, I'll just say in general
Italian Ice. And then finally, I do love good or
sunglasses because they're like twenty dollars but they like look
kind of cute. And you don't have to stress if
(27:37):
you lose them, which I did. I left a pair
on Slinky Dog Dash at Disney World, So that's actually
not the first time I've left a pair on a
disney World ride. But the other time they were like
fancy designer ones, so I had to like go find them,
which I did, but it was so stressful, and this
time I was like, Eh, anyway, it's fine.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
You put them in that little pocket in the front
like for roller coasters.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Yeah. Then you like when they're saying, please take your belongings,
You're like, well, I'm doing that.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
Apparently you didn't listen to that.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
I grabbed my bag with like my wallet and stuff,
but I did. I forgot that I had my sunglasses
separate from said bag. Yeah, but oh, it happens.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
It totally happens, especially if you're like hurting three other
people off the roller coaster with you, and then yeah,
whether you have your bag or not may not be
the first thing you're thinking of. All right, So my
top five I am going to say, honeysuckle, beer gardens.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
I like beer gardens.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
I'm just so you know, fun about being outside and
they feel festive and it's in the evening, so it's
you know, an excuse to be outside waking up later,
so me not being a natural morning person, It's not
been as bad this year because they shifted the school
start times so most mornings we do not need.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
To wake up before seven, which is lovely.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
And even if we are waking up on the early side,
like our early shifted routine is six forty, which is
still not that early, but still this summer.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
Doesn't even have to do that. So you know, if
the kids are going.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
To camp at like nine, nobody really has to wake
up before eight. I'm feeling like I could get up
at seven and get a lot of stuff done before
anyone else is up, and that could be amazing. Maybe
I'll start being a morning exerciser. Maybe not because it's
not I mean, if you're gonna rint outside, I guess
you need to do it in the early morning and summer.
But we'll see, we'll see waking up later. Anything grilled
(29:23):
grilled food is good. I think we should try to
experiment with this this summer, you know, beyond the basic proteins.
Maybe some like grilling lettuce leaves and making a char
grilled salad or you know, various vegetables.
Speaker 3 (29:35):
I was going to suggest octopus.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Octopus.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Well, I like octopus, and I'm sure it's good on
the grill. Yeah, And then different combos of kids at home.
This is just one of the fun parts of summer
when you have some kids who are going to sleep
away camps, as you wind up with like a totally different,
random assortment of children, when you have five kids who
might be home at any given point, and so it
just changes the dynamic and interesting ways.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
And I kind of I'm here for it.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
I like seeing what the dynamic would be if you
had this, this and this age, or if you only
had these two, or if you had tho wan.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
So it'll be kind of fun to see. All right.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
So question this week what to do with the last
week of summer. There are often no camps by the
last week of summer, So Sarah, what's your general approach
for this?
Speaker 3 (30:22):
I have nothing good this year. I'm going to be honest, Like,
so last year we did travel, like we made that
our family vacation. I don't know if you remember. It
was like the most horrendous phase. We had other stuff
going on too. But then I had like call week
and then I went straight to vacation or maybe it
was vacation to call to school, whatever it was. It
didn't work. So I was like, I'm never doing that again,
and so I booked our family vacation for June this year,
(30:43):
like the beginning of the summer instead, when there's also
not a lot of camps by the way, So it's
like you can have your issue on either end. So
our strategy is just going to be like really relaxed, careful,
getting ready for school kind of stuff. I mean, I'm
going to be working, but like on my more flexible days,
I imagine like doing the back to school shopping, make
sure the kids have what they need, because I felt
like we just didn't have time for that last year,
(31:05):
and I really felt it.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
Yeah, I think this is a challenge for people who
are also like if camp has kind of been your
child care over the summer, then having that gap in
the last week week and a half is it's challenging. Obviously,
you can make it a vacation week, though, then that is,
as Sarah said, the trouble of having it go right
back into school.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
You could possibly bring your kids.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
To family if that is an option, if you have
relatives who enjoy spending time with your children and they're
amenable to it. Maybe that could be a week that
gets spent with grandparents or something like that. You might
be able to trade off, like if you are working
and you have other families in the same boot near you, Like,
if you think about it, if you had three families,
(31:48):
you could work out a situation where each parent takes
one day that would cover six days. You'd only have
to take one day off, and then the kids would
be able to do something with the parent who was
off on that particular day.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
Would probably be a pretty fun experience for those kids.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
But that might be a way to cover for everyone
and still have a good experience but not have to
burn through whatever limited PTO people might have.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
Yeah, I like that. That's fun. And another idea I
did have is that, especially if you have a kid
that's switching, either going to a new school or like
moving off a level in school, orchestrating some kind of
friend hangout for kids to see their friends if they
didn't see them during the summer, it can be like
ease everybody in it can be social and then they can,
like I don't know, kind of feel more ready. Yeah, socially, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
To start the new thing.
Speaker 2 (32:34):
All right, Well, this has been best of both worlds.
We have been talking all things summer. We are, you
know our top fives in various different categories. If you
have ideas of wonderful things you'll be doing this summer
you want to share with us, please let us know.
And again, remember it is Sarah's birthday when this episode
is airing, so please give us a happy birthday review.
(32:54):
Wherever you get your podcasts, we would appreciate that. We
will be back next week with more on making work
and life together.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
Thanks for listening. You can find me Sarah at the
shoebox dot com or at the Underscore Shoebox on Instagram,
and you.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
Can find me Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. This
has been the best of both worlds podcasts. Please join
us next time for more on making work and life
work together.
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