The mad dash begins with only four days left of school. I dropped off the massive science project this morning at school as it was too large for my daughter to carry along with her backpack and instrument.

“What did you do — kill a bird?” the teacher says to me upon my arrival.

I’m not sure if that was a compliment of my daughter’s life-like duck in her freshwater ecosystem, or a crack at the size of the bird sitting in its habitat. Regardless, it’s an item checked off my list.

Next … laundry. I’m grateful for the light breeze this morning as I placed the drying rack in front of the sliding glass door to speed up the air drying process. Jeans are next to hang. I’m anxious to get “laundry” checked off my list as well.

After that? My list is lengthy, so I have an assortment to choose from. As I folded clothes this morning, I slowed down and reminded myself, Life as I know it, will NOT end in four days. It will just look different — it’s just summer.

It’s just summer … how can six little letters cause parents to scurry? Somehow, they do. It’s like a subconscious need to accomplish everything before school is out. After that, the routine is out the window.

Recently when my daughter and I wrote our lists of what we’d like to do this summer, I stressed the need for balance as she wrote her list. We then read our lists to each other.

“How many of your items can be done while I work and write?” I asked.

She paused briefly and said, “Just a couple, Mom.”

At this point, I could get flustered and worry about how I’ll accomplish everything, but I’ve gone down that road too many times before and I know it leads no where. It reminded me of my prayer displayed on my desk,

“Guide me Lord to do what you desire me to do this day! May it not be just a list of things to accomplish, but a day to fulfill your plans.”

I’ve learned I can’t look at the entire summer in one glance, as that causes my breakers to short circuit. Instead, I have to take one bite at a time. God knows what He desires for me to accomplish as a parent, employee, and writer, so I just entrust it into His hands. He can carry a much heavier load than I can.

So, on that note, here are a few more ideas for thriving this summer with your children:

1. Garage Sales. On Friday mornings, we like to hit the garage sales in our area. It’s fun to start out with just a few dollars and see how far your money can spread. Years back, my very first writing area came from garage sale finds. For under $10, I bought a shelf, decor, and glider chair!

2. Outings. Library, park, grocery shopping — whatever it is, make it fun and engage the kids. Give young children their own list of items to find in the grocery store. Allow the older kids to read in the teen section of your local library (an area no adults are allowed) and give them their wanted independence. Look for nature at a park or on a hiking trail.

3. Spontaneous Mini-Trip to …?. Take a picnic lunch and hop in the car to drive somewhere unknown. Here’s how it works. Make it a group effort and take turns saying which direction you should drive and for how long. For example, “Let’s go straight for 5 minutes, then left for 3 minutes.” Set a time limit. Then wherever you end up, hop out of the car, and have your picnic lunch.

4. Play office. If you need to get some work done and have younger children, give them their own “office setup” and allow them to play next to you while you work. When my daughter was young, she loved this! She had an envelope of stickers, scratch paper, old file folders, and the use of tape. She made files, organized papers, and wrote “important” (but illegible) things. She loved showing me her efforts.

Remember you are not alone — as parents, we are in this together!

Some days I wonder if my husband and I are the only ones who struggle in a certain area as parents. Or I wonder if our approach on a topic is the best. Or if other parents experience the same ups and downs in this parental journey as we do.

It’s easy to feel like you’re the only one, isn’t it? Typically when we talk with other adults, we do not first swap stories of our child’s bad days, their attitude woes, or our parenting tactics.

Instead, we come to conclusions of our parenting skills by watching other children and compare them to our own. Junior doesn’t act like that, so we’re doing good. How come our daughter doesn’t sleep through the night yet? Suzie’s daughter did once she hit three-months old. Their son is so well-behaved, what are we doing wrong? Our daughter doesn’t care to go to college … but her friend is planning on graduate school. Where did we mess up?

We all have fallen into the compare trap. But the truth is, we all struggle as parents wondering if our skills and tactics are on the right track or if we could do better. Sometimes we find ourselves swimming in circles baffled in the seas of a difficult situation. We’re not alone.

My daughter recently asked how I can write for parents when I’m not a perfect parent. She was a little fearful of offending me. I wasn’t offended. I’ve never claimed to be a perfect parent and honestly, I don’t strive for flawlessness. It’s unachievable — I’m not God. However, I do strive to be the best parent I can be in every situation.

Sometimes being the best parent is teaching our children that we mess up too and it’s okay to pick ourselves back up and start again. Sometimes being the best parent is allowing our children to watch how we work through our own struggles. Sometimes being the best parent means we apologize for our wrong behavior and ask for forgiveness.

Our children watch what we do, and are less likely to listen to what we say. As they hit adolescence, that fact becomes even clearer. It’s shown me how important my actions are. How I can influence my daughter simply by how I live my life. And I recognize what life lessons I can teach her, by me living out those lessons each day.

No, I’m not a perfect parent. I mess up. I often apologize for raising my voice when I ask my daughter not to do the same. I get grouchy when I’m tired and hungry. I struggle.

I’m also relentless in my desire to teach our daughter the value of authenticity in everything we do. It’s a virtue too often overlooked.

Yesterday afternoon, the wind kicked up and blew. The sky dressed itself in brown clouds of dust. The trees flapped wildly and littered the yard with their dead branches. However, today all is peaceful.

As I look out my window this morning, I’m reminded of the wind’s intensity just a mere twelve hours ago. How quickly it changed.

In parenting, I find things change fast too. What works for a while, suddenly doesn’t. So we shift gears. What motivates for a time, diminishes. Shift. An effective method to teach our children becomes old school as they get older. Shift. The fun activities we do together look different as time passes. Shift.

I used to hate change. I liked things predictable. But I learned early on, that parenting requires flexibility and willingness to be open to alterations in my plans.

I’ve also learned that not all change is dreadful. This weekend is a perfect example. Typically as a family, we decide together on our vacation destination, but the actual planning I do alone. My husband is game for anything. Our daughter didn’t care as long as we had family time and fun. So I planned the details.

Saturday, as we discussed our upcoming vacation, our daughter expressed her desire to help plan. She got excited over researching our destination, and hot spots we could see and do. I was thrilled to add a co-planner. My husband had one item on his wish list and she jumped at the chance to see how we could make that happen. This year, we will plan together!

There is no doubt that change is erratic and impulsive at times. But welcome to the adventures of parenting. Buckle yourself in. Sit back. Enjoy the ride!