runjulesrun: Fun Summer Fridays

I've been back working part time for over 3 years now and I am still struggling to figure out how to balance Summer and the kids. I hate that I have to leave them at home every day while I go to work. Yes, I only work part time and no, they do not mind sleeping in and lazing around. Doesn't matter, I still suffer from "Mom guilt".

Don't get me wrong. I love my job. I love that during the school year, I am home to get the kids off to school and I'm home to greet them after school. Working while they are at school is great and doesn't really affect them. Summer is a little different. My schedule doesn't change all that much, even though they are home.

This summer, I am making an extra effort to make sure they get out and have fun. For starters, we joined a pool that is about 1/4 mile from our house. They can ride their bikes there and swim with their friends while I am at work. They have been loving that!

Since I only work Mon - Thurs most weeks, I have coined Friday as "Fun Summer Fridays". I have been trying to go and do something fun every Friday.

The month of June was a bust. Between our vacation and my trip to Vietnam, there were no Fridays available to go and do. Don't feel too bad for the kids though, their 11 day vacation was plenty of fun and certainly covered more than the 4 Fridays they would have had.

The first Friday in July ended up being more of an errand day since Mark was off and we had stuff to do. That means we've only had 2 Fridays (so far) that actually qualify as "Fun Summer Fridays".

Last Friday, we utilized our season passes and headed to Six Flags Great America. We were there for the rope drop, did a couple of rides, then spent the rest of our time there at the water park. Nice.

This Friday, we stayed a little closer to home and went out to lunch, went miniature golfing, headed to Haagen Daz for some ice cream and went to play on the paddle boats at The Riverwalk in Naperville.