Working Parents Are Preparing For An Unprecedented Summer

The good news: you made it through the most challenging school year in history, during which we were all collectively making it up as we went along.

The bad news: the school year is now over, as is the structure and the hanging on by a thread reason for your kids to be occupied and leave you to get at least some work done.

If you’re anything like me, you’re having the same nightmare vision every time you let yourself think through the realities of this summer.

It’s Lord of the Flies time, people.

Most in-person camps are cancelled. My kids are not thrilled about the idea of virtual camp. I don’t want to invest in camps they’re rebelling against before day one.

While I’m typically the person who has every day of every week of summer white boarded and accounted for—the uncertainty of the life we’re currently living is driving me to try it a different way.

Welcome to The Garrett Improv Summer.

I’m working with a few guiding principles. (Plus, a reminder that my daughters are 9 and 12, so this will be tougher for kids under 7 or 8.)

There will be:

  1. Fun

  2. Creativity

  3. Alone time off screens (meaning make your own fun instead of watching 6 seasons of Glee)

  4. Learning

  5. Movement

  6. Rest

  7. Nature

  8. Helping others


To drill down into some more detail here:

We started with a Summer Ideas Workshop this past weekend. 

  1. I wrote down the principles on a big pad and then gave everyone a big piece of paper and markers.

  2. With pictures and words, we listed activities that fit under each category on our respective Summer 2020 blank slates.

  3. We presented our ideas to the rest of team Garrett.

    Example brainstorming for me:
    Fun: Outdoor weekend day trips, games, date nights!Creativity: Writing daily (blog/book), Writing workshop with girls 2x per week
    Alone Time: 9 - 4 work hours for sessions/writing/learning
    Learning:  Online course, continued racial equity learning, reading as a familyMovement: Yoga/walking
    Rest: In bed by 10, journaling
    Nature: Prospect Park, Upstate NY—walks, hikes, swimming (not sure where or how)
    Helping Others: Bringing supplies to Uncle Ray, Working on political campaigns aligned with my values.

  4. We attempted to map it all together into a loose schedule. That’s where team Garrett lost patience and came to terms with our disappointment for the summer we are collectively having, one that is not the summer we wanted. There were tears and frustration.

  5. Instead of setting a schedule, we decided on boundaries and guidelines that included when the adults must be left to do their work and when the kids can "finally" get onto their devices. All other activities can be chosen by each kid or adult based on their lists.

  6. To make it all work, we’re bringing back a former babysitter for a couple of weeks to hang out with our younger daughter and she may be able to help sporadically for the rest of the summer. But again—we’re playing it by ear and taking extra precautions to make sure it’s safe for our sitter and for all of us.

  7. We have selected some free learning options for the kids to include into their schedules, like Camp Kinda and Camp Khan Academy.


Summer Ideas Workshop results aside, we’re going to learn from our rocky start to virtual learning in March. For those of us planner types, we will remember to shoot for loose guidelines and not rigid schedules. We will remember that our first priorities are still the physical and mental health of our families. We will ask for help when we need it. Of course, I’m grateful that my business is designed for the flexibility of cutting my workday, during the summer—and yet I have never run this experiment before. I’ve always had camp and childcare coverage to keep the same pace as in all seasons.  

So, onward we march...into the great somewhat unknown of Summer, 2020. Ready for smiles, tears, insights and boredom. We are here for all of it. Because...we have no other choice.

Rachel GarrettComment