Monday, June 7, 2010

"Surviving extra time off during the summer”

Summer brings to mind so many fond memories of wonderful days on the water for me as a child. The days of swimming, riding bikes, fishing, being on the boat & playing outside all day are some of my most cherished memories. Even those wonderful rainy days curled up with a good book were wonderful. As kids my siblings and I were subjected to “child abuse” LOL or so we thought at the time because my dad would discontinue the cable television!! I know a travesty right? The good news is we all survived and perhaps are even more interesting and certainly well read individuals.

All of those happy memories made me want to also give my kids a little piece of that. Our son spends a great deal of his summer vacation time in extended school year so we try and capitalize on our time together. My husband and I both love the water (ocean, lake, river—we’re not picky!) and wanted to instill that in our son and daughter. Having an Autistic son sometimes makes some of the events a challenge but he’s quickly learning to enjoy them as much as his sister does which increases my husband’s, my daughter’s & my enjoyment of it all too. It plucks at my heart strings to see my son excitedly running down the beach after his sister flying a kite or trying so hard to help build a sand castle.

If you’re going stir crazy and need to get out of the house:

Find air conditioned gym places (Bounce U, Twisters, Little Gym) for open play time
*** A bouncy kid is a happy kid at our house.
Check out aquariums, museums, area parks, historic sites and conservation tour areas.
*** They have great touch & feel museums, children’s displays or walking tours if you check their sites.

Search for area charities (Surfer’s Healing, Heart of Sailing, Variety Children’s Charity, Sea Paddle of NYC, etc.) who host events for Autistic Children and their families. ***Many are free or reduced rate events.
http://www.bestdayfoundation.org/                    http://heartofsailing.org/default.asp
http://www.seapaddlenyc.org/                           http://www.surfershealing.org/index.html
http://www.varietychildrenscharity.org/              http://www.poac.net/

Our state is rich with historic lighthouses and some of the country’s most beautiful beaches right at our back door. We’re also within driving distance of Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, NYC, the Thousand Islands, Poconos Mountains, Adirondack Mountains and even some provinces of Canada.

If you’re looking for ideas to do closer to home then you could do all sorts of stuff! Picnic in your own backyard, camp out at Grandma’s house, spend a rainy day at the local library, have a neighborhood block party or snuggle around a “camp fire” in your backyard and roast marshmallows. Try out a Yoga class for Special Needs kids, book a therapeutic horseback riding lesson, look for seashells and sea glass on the beach, fly a kite.

Many of my childhood, summer memories are of the simplest things. They are all about my being with my Parents, Grandparents, siblings, cousins, Aunts and Uncles. The love, innocence and pure joy of just having time to play and be a kid is what I hope to instill in both my children.

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