School's Out, Summer's On! Welcome to Mommy & Me Camp

School is out for the year and routines are changing here. It is just one month away from S's first birthday and as I shift into the summer flow of being a stay-with-S-mommy, I am amazed and excited with how he has grown, how I have grown and how we have all grown as a family. In September I was eager and terrified to go back to work. I still had that deer-in-the-headlights expression on my face as though even after 40 weeks and 3 days, I had still been unexpectedly thrust into the front-lines of motherhood. I recently had a conversation with a fellow working momma in our community. She asked me if I felt becoming a parent made me more confident in my work. I responded that actually the opposite was true. Going back to work, a venue in which I do have confidence and clarity helped me cultivate these feelings in the home. I also have an incredibly supportive husband, childcare provider and work environment. All of these supports were invaluable. My husband was there to cheer me along and take on more than his fair share of household tasks and care for baby S. Our amazing childcare provider who is also an amazing friend and neighbor helped instill a sense of security and routine for S while I was away and modeled peaceful and gentle parenting in her home in a way that inspired and empowered me to practice the same in ours. In the workplace, I was nurtured and encouraged as a teacher and supported as a brand new working mom.

Bit by bit, I found my rhythm. In the classroom I could always maintain calm, find balance and create a sense of fun and wonder. It requires planning and adaptability, perspective and flexibility. More and more, I found that these same concepts worked in my home routines, and while the idea of being at home with S this summer was potentially scary at first, I decided to go into it much in the same way: with a plan and a promise to myself and S that we will be flexible, adapt, and as needed, step back and take some perspective. And that is how Mommy & Me Summer at Home Camp was born. I created a week-by-week schedule of themes my husband and I thought would be fun and interesting for S and then I created a tentative daily schedule. We hung our schedule for all to see on the door to our pantry closet, and while it is a chronological list of activities, I am not glued to a time schedule. Wearing a watch over the summer just leaves an awkward tan line! And on the inside of the door is a list of game changers to try if best laid plans fall through--self care is very important whether you are a play at home mom, a work at home mom, or a mom working away from home.

Our theme for the first week of Mommy & Me Camp is Arctic Animals--perfect for cooling off in the summer, no? Here's a little peek at what we've done so far:

We start our morning in the same way we always do, with morning davening (prayers). He has always loved the songs and now he's really enjoying the props as well!

He really loves the arctic animal songs and action rhymes I found HERE

For some sensory fun, S really had fun playing, dumping, kicking and sucking on ice cubes!

We used blue paint and epsom salts in a ziploc bag to decorate this polar bear and S even liked it well enough to do some tummy time!

S helped mix ingredients and knead homemade spelt dough for pizza. It was supposed to be polar bear pizza, but my dairy oven was too small to accommodate the ears--I had to turn them into calzones and my polar bear became a puppy! Either way, it was very yummy!

 And that's a wrap for now, since S has woken up from his afternoon nap and is trying to help type with his feet... We're off to read some arctic animal books from our local library!