This has been a hot topic on the Adoption.com forums. I thought I was the only one struggling with it, but I am certainly not alone.

I was familiar with an Alan Jackson song with this title. Here is the chorus:

Well I'm a-gonna raise a fuss, I'm gonna raise a holler
About workin' all summer just to try an' earn a dollar
Sometimes I wonder what I'm gonna do
'Cause there ain't no cure for the summertime blues

While looking for the lyrics, I discovered that this song was originally in 1958 by Eddie Cochran, and has since been covered by 47 bands, according to Wikipedia. Why do you think that is? I think it’s because we can relate to it.

So, what is the reason for the summertime blues? After all, the weather is beautiful and you have hours on end to sit and watch your kids while sipping lemonade on the beach while your adoring servants fan you with palm branches, right? Only in my wildest dreams.

I have a few theories, and some suggestions for dealing with some of these issues.

Lack of structure/schedule - Most of our kids do much better when they have a schedule that they can predict, or their time is structured for them. Trying to fill their time by themselves can be very stressful. Enrolling your child in a sport, dance activity, or something else that interests them can help with this. You can also “schedule” activities within the home to help them maintain a school type schedule.

For example:

10:00 – 11:00 craft time
11:00 – 12:00 reading time
12:00 – 12:30 lunch
12:30 – 1:30 outside play

This allows the child some structure, while giving them choices within that time frame.

School is out – If your child is in school during the year, adjusting to having the child back in your home full time can be very stressful. This also goes along with the structure issue. We used something called “Summer Bridge Activities”. It is a school workbook designed to help kids remember what they learned the previous year in school. Initially Sammy bucked this when we first started it, but once he got into it, he really enjoyed it. We set a certain amount of time each day when he worked on the book. We usually did it in the evenings while I was preparing dinner, since this was the time he would normally work on homework after school.

Money – If your family is anything like ours, money is very tight during the summer. If you’re trying to do a family vacation, or kids are attending summer camp, there are additional expenses. You also have expenses for home up keep like lawn mowing and gardening. Sorry, no magic answers for this one. I’m trying to figure out how to stay in the black myself.

Additional work – Along with nice weather comes additional responsibilities. Unless your yard is green all year long, you are doing additional things like mowing the lawn, pulling weeds, outdoor painting, and many other things that can only be done, or need to be done, while the weather is nice. It adds an additional burden on life. If you can afford it, pay someone to do the work for you. The year that I hired someone to mow my lawn was my most relaxed summer. Many teenagers are looking for work, and will take some of the odd jobs you don’t want to do, or don’t have time to do. Maybe you don’t want the teenager painting your home, but scraping paint might be a great job to hire out.

Less time for friends/family – With hectic schedules and running kids to different activities, we tend to neglect the relationships that are most important to us. Schedule a date with your partner, or plan a night in or out with your friends. Nancy & I blogged about our girls night in. I ordered the board game off of E-Bay this morning, and will be inviting my friends over for a night of relaxation.

These may not be the issues you’re dealing with, but I hope I have given you some ideas for how to deal with the summertime blues. Maybe some day I’ll see you at the beach with your servants fanning you.

Photo credit