Make your summer fun list

Decide now what will make summer feel like summer for you

For those of us who experienced a standard school calendar growing up, summer has always had its unique memories. The schedule was different. Maybe there were vacations, camps, summer jobs, or even just more downtime, or a lot of time spent outdoors.

In any case, the season has its own connotations. It stands out from the others.

In adult life, the difference isn’t so stark. My guess is that you’re still going to work. With schools closed, you just need different childcare arrangements. That said, certain things can make summer feel like summer. They conjure up nostalgia, or recreate some of the fun. If they don’t happen, you get to September and wonder where the time went.

So, for the past few years, at some point in May, I’ve made a “Summer Fun List.” This is a list of anything I want to do over summer to make summer feel like summer to me.

Looking forward

Frequent entries have included going strawberry picking in June, and peach picking in July. We visit a certain Jersey shore town that’s become a tradition in my family. I love going bike riding. I like to visit a beer garden (nothing like a pint outside!). I try to do Mommy days — that is, one-on-one days — with my older kids. You can read my list from 2023 here and 2022 here.

I encourage everyone to do this! What would make summer feel like summer to you? Maybe there are certain vacation spots you go to again and again, even just for day trips. Or you have a big trip planned for the summer that deserves some anticipation. Maybe you’d like to go camping or fishing. Maybe you feel most summery while eating foods such as July burgers, lobster rolls (in Maine?), or ice cream from a favorite parlor.

Take a few minutes today to start making your list. Ask family members what they’d put on the list. Look at the calendar, and come back to this list a few times (it can be a working document — you don’t have to carve it in stone!).

14 weeks

There’s no need to go overboard. Trying to do 100 things might feel a bit daunting. But there are 14 weeks between Memorial Day and Labor Day. That is 98 days. Or 2,352 hours if you’d like to think of it that way. Add in the Saturday and Sunday of Memorial Day weekend and you’ve got 100 days. If you identify a dozen things or so you’d like to do you can probably fit them in. As you draw up the list, look at your schedule. See where the big things can go. For smaller things, keep them on a list so as you’re thinking of each upcoming weekend you won’t waste the opportunity. “What are we doing this weekend?” Well, here’s an idea from the list. How about that?

Summer is a time for making memories. So, as you’re doing things on the list, make sure you take notice. Take pictures. Talk about what’s going on. Recount the stories afterwards. Check the items off.

If you do this, come the end of summer, you won’t wonder where the time went. We don’t say “Where did the time go?” when life is full of memories. A summer fun list can make that happen.