Live Like a Kid {A How To} #MindfulMotheringMondays

"Ok, it's Mama's turn on the swing."

It's finally summer and this year I'm thirty. I still feel like a kid. Being at home with my children during the summer affords me the luxury of embracing summer just like those kids I'm raising. Eating popsicles and watermelon, running through sprinklers and exploring lakes, napping with the baby on a blanket in the sun with a good book nearby. While I love the learning rhythm during the school year with my kids, there's just something about summer that brings me back every time to the barefoot, tan, happy kid I used to be.

Fiona slips off and it's my turn, kicking my sandals off and soaring up toward the trees. In that moment, if I close my eyes with the sun soaking deep into my skin - I feel about 8 years old. And that feels marvelous.

You don't have to be a stay at home parent to capitalize on the fountain of youth that is an amazing summer. With a good plan and an intentional attitude, anyone can experience just what it's like to live like a kid this summer.

The secret to feeling young is looking at the world with fresh eyes. There is always something new and exciting to learn and see. In my life, there are always more chores to do, more demands on my time than I could ever get to. The truth is, I'll never get it done all in one day, not even if I work from dawn til dusk and beyond. But making space for myself to breathe and enjoy this season enables me to truly focus back on my work when I return to it, making me more effective and centered.

Here's my list for embracing summer like a kid - and keeping myself soul-young.


Create. Whether your project is building a new garden area or painting a cabinet you found for free on the side of the road, make time to create. If possible, bring your kids right along side.. It can be something that enhances your life, but try as much as possible to choose a project that you enjoy, not something that is just work.

Read. One of the first things that falls to the wayside when life gets busy for me is making time for a book. Intentionally recapturing that during the summer months is a great joy for me. I'm taking book suggestions so if you have an idea, let me know!

Explore. This year we are making a list of our favorite parks and trying to get there a few times a week. Not only is it good for the kids, but it's great for me, too. Museums, zoos, historical sites, or even nearby towns are a great place to start.

Embrace. That hair-brained idea your kids came up with that is just so crazy it could be fun? Do it, if at all you can. The high from believing that anything is possible is quiet addictive and so, so fun.

Rest. If daily quiet time slipped away during the school year, bring it back in the summer. Time for the kids to quiet down, yes, but also time for you. Don't use it to do laundry or clean. Use it to really truly rest. Even just 15 minutes can be the calm you need to re-energize for your next adventure.

Move. Even if it's just a walk around the block, making time to be physically active is always worth the effort. It's even better in the summer months when it can be incorporated into time outside.

The best part of working on these goals for yourself? Is that, in doing so, you encourage your kids to keep it up. Childhood is short and fast fleeting, but with a young-at-heart Mama leading the way, those kids of yours will keep the magic alive for longer. And that alone is worth it all.

{It's Mindful Mothering Mondays, a day to take a deep breath and write out your mothering journey, whatever form it takes. A day to link up for encouragement from others who are in this same phase of life. A day of writing out the trials and triumphs and what you're learning right where you are, right now.

You might post recent struggles or thoughts. Maybe just a picture or a quote. Or maybe you'll just come here and read the links that others post. Whatever form your participation takes, this is a day for you.
We are all in this, together. Together, we can encourage and build one another up, be honest with our shortcomings and strengthened by community to keep fighting the good fight.

I chose Mondays because what Mama doesn't need a little encouragement on a Monday? As such, I'll have the link up ready to go on Sunday night for you to begin submitting your links.

I hope you'll meet with me each Monday! Here's what to do ~

Link up your post below. Remember to put the link to the exact post you want to link, and not just your blog url. Include in your post a link back here so others who want to join in can find us! And visit some other Mamas who have linked up.

Post the community graphic within your post, so people who are reading your Mindful Mothering post can come back here and find the rest of us!

Invite the writers of your favorite blogs to join in!

Share this meme with others on facebook and twitter. This community is for all moms, and the more that participate, the more we will be able to enjoy!!}

Grab the graphic here:

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