Ah, girl, don't be hard on yourself this summer though or make strict routines when you're feeling down about life in general. I know that routines are still important though. I want our summer to be thrifty yet away from the t.v. and computer a lot, doing stuff. Maybe we should start a summer ideas thread with stuff we can do around our house or our cities that are free?

That's a really good idea!  Or at least really cheap.

 

I have all my stuff typed in and am gonna post it in one post - I'll go back and split it up later since it's really too much for one post but at least this way it's there

 

I think it's a pretty loose frame for our day.  I've decided NO TV OR VIDEO GAMES OR COMPUTER this summer except on Saturday and Sunday mornings.  I'm going to take the cables off the back. 

 

Erik is free to do what he wants in his room.  He also won't be roped into routines since that is like suddenly deciding another adult is going to do exactly what I want them to do, but he already has general guidelines like cleaning the kitchen every weeknight he's here, phone from 7-9 PM and backyard must be mowed by friday night (I do kitchen on whatever night he picks to mow - I also trim and do front yard).  I'll also expect him to do better with getting dirty dishes out of his room and bringing laundry out more regularly.  He'll also be free to drink or eat what he wants within reason like always. 

 

And I'm going to gather up all the towels and assign 1 to each person to last a week.  Scott will rebel because he thinks that is disgusting, but we did it when we had an apartment with no washer or dryer and I don't want to be spending my entire summer washing clothes.  We are not supposed to do that because we are allergic to mold, but our stupid bathroom is so covered in mildew anyway I cannot see it making a difference.

 

This summer is going to be different!  Last summer just seemed like we wasted the whole thing.