Hi, I’m Lish—mom to three boys, Gen-X to the core, and unapologetically nostalgic for the kind of summers I had growing up. Back then, summer was off. Not kind of off. Not off but here’s your math packet. It was off. Done. Over. The bell rang in June, and unless you went to summer school (which meant you really blew it), you were out of the system for a solid two months.
And we loved it. We lived outside. Bikes, hoses, fireflies, dirty feet, popsicles that melted faster than you could eat them. We weren’t academically regressing—we were living, problem-solving, inventing, imagining, and figuring things out on the fly.
Now, I see young parents (God bless them) stacking their kids’ summers with reading logs, enrichment tutors, and online learning courses. I don’t say this with judgment, but with real concern: Why are we turning childhood into a job? Why are we so afraid of our kids being “bored” or “falling behind” that we forget what summer is actually for?
Here’s What Summer Really Teaches
Letting your son spend a full day running through sprinklers, digging a hole in the sand, or riding his bike until dinner teaches him something school can’t: how to be human. It teaches joy, creativity, independence, and resilience.
No worksheet can compete with the real-world education that happens when a kid builds a fort out of fallen branches or barters with his brothers over who gets the last Italian ice. Those experiences matter. They shape his memories, and eventually, they shape his character.
A Real-Life Summer Moment: Our Beach Day
Just this past week, I had a spontaneous moment where I looked at my crew and said, “Who wants to come to the beach with me?” No plans. No itinerary. Just a full day, one hour away, by the water. All three of my boys said yes, and a good friend of mine joined us.
The first thing I do when I get to the beach is walk to the edge of the water to feel how cold it is—it’s a little ritual. We’re all ocean people. We can swim and frolic for hours, and that’s exactly what we did. We swam, we laughed, we ate (a lot), we even napped under the sun.
It was one of those days. The kind that didn’t look like anything special on paper but will stick in your heart for years. I’m confident if you asked my boys, they’d say it was one of the best days of summer so far. No lessons. No drills. Just joy.
Call to Action: Let It Go
This summer, let the schoolwork go. Let them run. Let them rest. Let them do nothing. That’s where the real growth is. You don’t raise strong, balanced young men by burning them out before they hit puberty. You raise them by giving them space to breathe, time to think, and room to explore.
Pro Tip: Copy Your Childhood
Think back. What did you love about summer? Give that to your son. That’s what he’ll remember—not the spelling quiz you made him take in July. Take the random beach trip. Let them stay up a little later. Laugh. Play. Make the memory.
Final Thought
You don’t need a plan to give your kid a great summer. You just need intention. Keep it simple. Keep it joyful. And for the love of all things good—keep the math packets on the shelf. Summer was made for rest, reset, and ridiculous fun. Let it be just that.
