Having the kids off school during the summer is a mixed bag. The long-anticipated freedom from being over-scheduled quickly gives way to the stressful fatigue of managing high-intensity kids looking for outlets. It’s exhausting to constantly be ‘herding cats’, or trying to muscle our kids into ‘helping’ or ‘things to occupy them’. As parents, we can still reap the helpful benefits of rhythm during the summer free-for-all by getting creative. Here are 10 parenting tips to beat summer boredom!

“The imitative nature of the baby and young child is so obvious and so all-pervasive that we tend to be blind to it, unaware of its implications for parenting,” opens a 1987 Mothering Magazine article by author Rahima Baldwin. “Your child learns everything through imitation - walking, talking, toilet training, tying shoes, endless tasks. And imitation manifest in expressions and gestures, as when we see and hear ourselves in our children’s play. “ I’d add that while parenting is now extremely child-centered, none of these actions are learned better from a screen or app. “The most effective way to correctly behavior in the young child is to provide an example in movement rather than to reason it out….”

“What life skills are your kids working on? What do you think 10-year-olds should be able to do?” It’s no secret that it’s a crazy, challenging, full-time job raising our children to be capable, contributing adults. And in the rush of coping and surviving, it's super easy to feel overwhelmed in that critical middle ground where our children develop essential life skills . I’d call it the window between the delight of infants starting to walk, and the anxiety of teens starting to drive. Yet, it's during the stress of everyday life that these practical skills are cultivated and honed.