School's out...now what?

Our first week of summer...meaning no school...has officially begun.

Max's last day of preschool was actually a couple weeks ago. We were a little concerned as the school year was ending because he kept saying that he had no friends at school and no one wanted to play with him. He never complained about school, and happily went twice a week, so I was a bit baffled by his claim of playing with nobody. I did meet with his teacher about this, and she assured me that he is very well liked, all the kids like to play with him...although he does prefer to play with the girls (which in no way surprised me). His perception is definitely not in sync with reality apparently. And when I went to his end of the year program, this was his contribution to the class's poster on each kid's favorite activity (which was done before I even meeting with his teacher):

Max with his very loving and creative teacher, Miss Peg.

Cameron's last day was Thursday. But Cameron NEEDS to be busy. If he's not, he tends to torture his little siblings, causing nothing but troube. However, I don't want to overschedule Cameron. Although he would probably love all the different camps and activities I could put him in, I don't want to spend all that money, or do all the driving around. Plus he has lots of friends in the neighborhood to hang out with (and they're free). And I think it's important for kids to figure out different things to do together, on their own, that does not involve playing video games.

Cam and his amazing first grade teacher. I do hope Max gets her someday.

In order to have a successful summer, I'm trying to getting into some routine with the kids. The usual breakfast, teeth brushed, beds made, clothes on routine still exists. But I don't want the TV to rule our mornings, as is often the case on the weekends. So in addition to a couple of chores a week, the kids also will have homework to do. Both Cameron and Max have a book they're working out of, and Ella, well, she has crayons and paper. Plus, Cameron will be doing some reading of novels and some journaling as well.

Today, except for Max's complaining that writing letters was boring and insisting that he write E's when he was supposed to be writing F's, all went well. Cameron completed his work in less than an hour, with no moaning and groaning on "this is not what summer is for" (as he had done when I told him about our routine for this time off school). Sara took the kids to Teddy Bear park while I ran and did some errands. When the kids got home, Cam played with some neighborhood friends, and Max hung out in and around the house.

All in all, a good first day. I hope we can keep it up.