Happy Summer Vacation!
School’s out for summer. The kids are home. The house is a little lot louder, a little lot messy, and your patience is already wearing thin…and it’s only the first day. We counted down the days until school ended for the summer, and now we are three minutes into it and already on our next countdown – how many days left until the first day of school.
Parents are funny like that.
Summer is the best (though I didn’t think so until about two summers ago when the twins were more like little people than loud, needy, toddlers who drained all my energy). Now they’re little people, and they and their big sisters are self-sufficient, loud, needy kids who drain all my energy.
Summer is so good to us. It’s a time when we do a lot of traveling and we enjoy it more because Sunday returns aren’t a mad dash to order groceries so we have something to pack for lunches on Mondays. We aren’t in a rush to get home because we have to prep for the week to come and get the kids to bed at a decent time (I mean, we always make our kids go to bed at an embarrassingly early time…we are parents. We need some quiet and some alone time without them all up in our grills, guys. We are not ashamed of this). It’s just slow and easy.
In our house, we love the break. The break from sports and activities and requirements. I love that I can get up in the morning and be at my desk by 7 and finished working by 9. I don’t have to work into the morning because I don’t have to stop for an hour or two and get the kids ready for school and run errands and drop them off, etc. We love the quiet schedules. Okay, we don’t have quiet schedules, but the things on our calendar during the summer are fun things we love rather than obligations from school and activities that are tacked onto the end of an otherwise busy day.
Summer is simple. It’s slow. It’s easy. It’s being in the pool by 10 am. It’s family movie night any night instead of only on weekends. It’s late nights and fun with friends, and all the things we love.
Summer is also draining. Honestly, it is. It’s hot. It’s humid. We Floridians die a little death each time we get into our cars. I pray for those who do not have a garage or do not have space in their garage in which to park because HOLY HELL there is nothing worse than getting into a car that has been baking in the sun all day long. My car is hot enough in the garage all day long, but it’s miserable when I’m out and park in the sun for longer than 14 minutes. If you’re not a native Floridian, you don’t even know. You don’t know what a solid hour in the sun can do to you in terms of exhaustion if you don’t hydrate properly and take care of yourself.
That said, you’re going to be tired with all the pool days and beach trips and paddle boarding down the river days, and the boat days, and the fishing days, and all the days that are spent outdoors during summer. However, you don’t have to be overly exhausted all summer because of things you can manage. It’s always good to remember that you do, in fact, control how you feel even when you think you’re feeling one way because of your schedule. Here’s what’s really taking the energy straight from your soul (aside from these soul-sucking little angels we brought into this world and love with all our hearts…I cannot help you there).
Poor Sleep Habits
Ya gotta get some sleep. Even if you’re someone who can function on very little sleep, you’re going to have so much more energy if you get a solid 8 hours a night. I am that person who cannot function on anything less than 8 hours no matter how I try to combat my fatigue. If this girl doesn’t sleep at least 8 hours…well, I apologize frequently the following day. It’s tempting to stay up late every night during summer, but try to get some solid sleep.
Clutter and Messiness
Nothing exhausts you like living with total chaos. Whether it’s a messy desk or a messy bathroom or kitchen or a messy car – it’s so much easier to function and live a peaceful and rested life when your surroundings are in order. I don’t just say this because I am an anal-retentive neat freak from my car to my house to everything in between. I say this because it’s a medically proven fact. WebMD warns that clutter and messiness cause mental health issues. People who are surrounded by clutter and mess often find their creativity is affected, their stress level higher, they’re more scatterbrained, they struggle to focus, and you might not be as caring toward others.
Of course, it’s that much more difficult to have a clean, tidy, uncluttered house when you have kids home for summer. They’re little tornadoes of destruction, but inside your house and on a level that might feel worse than an actual weather phenomenon. I like to use the trash bag method in my house during the summer – if I have to clean it up, it goes into the trash. It’s very simple, and the kids learn fast.
Screen Time
Turn off your phone. Put it down. Ignore it. Leave it in the bedroom. It’s hard, I know. I’m guilty of having mine on me more than I should, but you won’t find me without it if the kids are not with me. I need to be available when my kids are in the care of anyone else. However, during the summer when they are home, put down the phone. Stop looking at social media and getting lost on TikTok or the ‘gram. Put it down. Put it away, actually, and just be present in the moment. If you want to feel good and not feel exhausted, get away from phones, iPads, televisions, and screens. Trust me – no one else needs you to respond that badly if they’re reaching out.
Dehydration
This is so fascinating to me…did you know some people don’t like water? Like, they do not like water. I love water. It’s so refreshing, especially on a hot day. Let’s just make this one short and sweet – you will feel like absolute shit if you do not drink enough water during the day. Especially during the summer. Drink up!
Poor Diet
Pool parties and BBQs and social gatherings make it difficult to eat well during the summer, but eating like shit does not make you feel good. Not only do you feel like a cow in your swimsuit, you’re also going to feel tired, bloated, and lazy. It’s definitely not a problem to have some cocktails or a dessert when you want it, but be moderate. Try the 80/20 rule. If 80 percent of your meals are healthy – and trust me when I tell you that you can make anything healthy, flavorful, and so good – then that 20 percent is for you, boo.
Sedentary Living
Summer can be sedentary. I will tell you right now that I can lay by my pool with a book in hand for 10 hours a day and not even realize it’s been that long. Not that there is a thing wrong with that, but you do feel exhausted after doing nothing. Break up those days with a paddle boarding trip or a kayaking trip. Get in the pool and swim. Take a walk, go for a run, join a yoga class. There are plenty of ways you can move your body, get some exercise, and still have fun without feeling exhausted.
Too Much to Do
Finally, being too busy can actually exhaust you to the point you get sick. It’s so much fun to have so many fun things on the calendar, but don’t forget to make sure you have some time to rest. Schedule some lazy days in there, too. You’ll thank yourself for it.
Do you have any tips for surviving the summer exhaustion? Leave them in the comment box below!
Tiffany Raiford 