How do your non-busy tweens/teens spend their summer days?

[Anonymous]

My kids do swim team for 2 months, volunteer for eagle projects. They also give swim lessons. They are also cooking at home trying tik tok recipes. They are on their phone sometimes. They are enjoying their carefree childhood. They will have plenty of work in the future. I’m letting mine be kids.

[Anonymous]

My three (14, 14, 12) all have some activities (sports) for at least part of the summer , and have SOME busy weeks. One took a summer PE class for HS credit (common in our area).

However, there are many days/weeks where they are doing a LOT of relaxing- they have household chores but after that lots of screen time or doing whatever they want. TBH, I think that is fine. The school years are so busy that the idle time doesn’t bother me.

They do all have close friends and see them regularly but generally not every day- some weeks are busier than others as everyone is working around vacations etc.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like you want your children to have unstructured time with friends? If so you need a like-minded community. It sounds like this used to exist at your pool but then older children stopped going. If so you’ll need to find another pool or club or church or maybe even move. There are walkable neighborhoods where kids do live the way you grew up.

However, if you do not want to move or find this community, kids will spend unstructured time without friends or will need to have structured friend time or worst of all by your standards, it seems, kids will need structured activities.

A compromise might be to learn what the kids’ friends are doing and sign them up together. For example, if kids friends are busy playing soccer, then sign your child up for the soccer team and arrange it with the other parents to have the team hang at the park after practice. Chances are your kids’ friends also have a similar struggle with not being in a walkable area and have chosen structured activities as a solution, but would welcome coordinated unstructured time

[Anonymous]

My kid kids spend a lot of time cooking. They cook dinner (hello fresh) one time each a week but also watch a lot of cooking you tube videos and recreate what they watch. One plays chess - online, with friends, and at a meet up at the local library. The other walks neighborhood dogs.

They also do swim team and meet up with neighborhood friends, but that isn’t what you were asking.

[Anonymous]

Activities.
The older one can be a CIT

[Anonymous]

Similar situation, and for the first time ever, we are doing absolutely nothing. And it’s been so amazing.

We do have four weeks of (my husband’s) planned vacation time spread throughout the summer, so those days are more structured with travel and/or activities. But the average day has been completely chill and unstructured.

Some days we wake up and decide we will stay in pajamas all day. Other days we plan a “theme”. We’ve done pool days, park picnic days, golf days, etc. We are bonding in a way that feels like just what we needed at this age. I would trade these lazy days for anything!