One of the challenging things about having the kids home for summer is making sure they still stay engaged with the world around them. As opposed to sleeping all day and playing video games.

I always plan art days on our summer calendar because my kids and I love to draw and color. But this time I bought canvases and acrylic paint. I never imagined it would turn out to be their most favorite activity. They loved it so much we did it three days in a row!

The kids are super talented and creative. They decided to do art walls in their rooms. Here are the masterpieces they painted:

I purchased a combo pack of canvases that included brushes and five small tubes of acrylic paint from Michael's but ended up going to Walmart for more canvases and paint after we decided to paint for two more days. 

My eight year old daughter actually Googled some ideas on her own and followed step by step instructions from artists on YouTube. I was so impressed at how her canvases turned out without any help! My son loves drawing pop art characters and images; he did a great job of painting his images on canvas!

My advice is to make sure you have enough brushes, paint and canvases for everyone. Find a big work space like a big dining table and cover it with a tarp or old bed sheet in case there are spills. We used empty water bottles to clean brushes when we changed paint colors. Also make sure everyone has fun and encourage your kids to be creative!

Welcome to June! This is the first post in my Summer Blog Series, which I've decided to do as a way to share and document some of my summer activities and projects. I've come to accept that being a full time blogger is just something I don't have the time or discipline to do however I love writing and sharing information, so I will pop in every now and then to do just that.

This Summer Blog Series will include a variety of summer themed posts that focus on the following:

• Suggestions for entrepreneurs on keeping business going during summer months
• Parenting hacks- kids crafts, summer treats
• Summer reading and other essentials
• Summer home projects and much more!

So I hope you'll check out my posts every Friday this summer!

During the first week of May every year, I create a calendar of activities, events and projects for the entire summer.  Disclaimer: Not every single day is accounted for and those are the stay-in-pajamas-and-binge-watch-Netflix-all-day days.  But since I do have two children (actually one of them is officially a teenager now) I've learned to be prepared for the, "What are we doing today?" "I'm bored," "Can we go to the mall?" (And that question would actually come from my 8 year old daughter!)

I just find we maximize our time (and I reduce my headaches) when I create an actual calendar.  Here's my approach:

1. I take a sheet of notebook paper and write down all the things that HAVE to be done over the summer. Dentist appointments, immunizations, my client projects, school shopping, etc.
2. Then I write down some FREE activities.  Visiting library, making snow cones, going to the pool, family game night, etc.
3. Next I ask my kids to tell me 2-3 things they would like to do over the summer.  Visit zoo, play mini golf, go see one of the million superhero movies hitting theaters, etc.
4. I open up the calendar template in Word and start randomly plugging activities on the June, July, and August calendars.  I make sure I work around our annual summer vacation dates and I intentionally leave Monday's blank. I never pass up an opportunity to sleep in on a Monday.  I also am careful not to put more than 3 activities in one week. I don't want to overwhelm our summer and my kids need to learn to be okay without doing something every single second of the day!
5. Once the calendar is done, I print one month at a time and hang it on the refrigerator.

Parenting is a tough job. It's even tougher when you're an entrepreneur working from home. 

Kids rely heavily on their parents. Depending on their ages you have to feed them, dress them, bathe them, take them to soccer practice or help them with their homework. All of this requires a very precious commodity for entrepreneurs: time.

It can seem as if you don't have enough time to dedicate to your business and if you spend more time on work than with your kids then you feel guilty. So you try to juggle both and end up with a string of sleepless nights, which affects not only your health but your creativity and productivity as well.

I've been there and sometimes still struggle with making it all work. But there are some sure fire things you can do to help things run a little smoother:

1. Schedule everything.  I'm serious. I know spontaneity is fun and cool and the spice of life or whatever. . .but if you don't adhere to some form of time management you will fail miserably. You should schedule answering emails or phone calls early in the AM while your kids are sleep or at school. When the kids are awake schedule an activity with them from X time to Y time, and then get back to work during their nap.  If you have a strict project or client deadline, you may have to put on a movie (gasp!) or call over a relative to babysit for a few hours.  

2. Quit at quitting time. If you schedule everything you should be able to set a realistic time to stop working. If you were working outside of the home there would be a set time to turn off the computer and leave the building. Apply the same thought process when working from home. Log off and close the office door or put the laptop on the closet shelf out of view.


3.  Examine your priorities. You are more than likely working from home because you crave work life balance. You want to be able to spend more time with your family. So do it. Don't spend all your time working and miss out on those special moments with your family because you can't ever get that time back.