Summer Vacation

As the birth of my first child approaching, I have noticed myself becoming more in tune with conversations moms and dads have about their children.  A popular topic lately has been “What are the kids doing this summer?”

There is a new creative process that parents are taping into these days to find ways to spend quality time together without spending a lot of money.  A few years ago there was no such thing as a “staycation”; many families were looking for the biggest and best thing to do with their families.  As we all know, “Keeping Up With The Joneses” is not only not as appealing as it once was, but not possible in these economic times.  As the second oldest of 12 children, I often remember my parents some what stumped as to what to do with us during the summer months.  We may not have had a lot of money, but we were resourceful in finding ways to keep ourselves busy during the summer.

I often find myself being asked this question in interviews “What impact will the economy have on our children”.  I happen to think that it will result in our children having to tap into a creative/right brained area that maybe they normally wouldn’t have had to use.  I see the family unit becoming stronger because families are forced, so to speak, to spend quality time entertaining each other instead of going on lavish vacations to theme parks and beaches.

My hope for all parents that I know is for them to be in the present moment as much as possible.  Your children will remember the time you spent with them, not necessarily how much you spent on them.  I’m not sure if Disney World will look less appealing to a 7 year old because their parent’s cash flow has changed, but I think game night and pizza at home won’t sound so bad either.

Enjoy your summer, enjoy yourself, and enjoy each other.

The post Summer Vacation appeared first on Julie Murphy.