Resolution 22: Summer Contracts

I am a BIG fan of summer contracts.  It lets kids know your expectations in advance and it lets you know their expectations of the summer vacation as well.  It needs to be written.  It needs to be an agreement, not a dictatorship.  Anything you want out of them, tie to something they want out of you.  Perhaps they want weekly field trips.  And you definitely want daily reading.  Or they want daily gaming time and you want daily exercise/outdoor time.  Don't over-schedule.  Do brainstorm lists of activities for those inevitable "I'm bored" or "I have NOTHING to do" moments with which childhood is and should be fraught.  I mean, its a right of passage for mother's to hear those phrases!