Oklahoma City family fun is just starting for the summer and it’s all about balance, I’ve decided.
School is out in Oklahoma City and the surrounding communities. Long days, hopefully with more sunshine than rain, are ahead. Whether you’re looking for weekend fun or something different for your day, find it all here on our website. We’ve just transitioned to a new look and feel here at MetroFamily; if you find a link that isn’t working or you have an idea for other summer content to cover, email me: callie@
So far, our summer is off to a running start, with all four of my children at home all day long. I am looking forward to the beginning of the summer reading program through the Metropolitan Library System, which begins tomorrow, June 1. Tonight is a kick-off celebration for it called Wild Rumpus Summer Reading Kick-Off at the Edmond branch that we plan to attend. Summer reading is that mind-expanding time where it’s not for a grade, just for fun and the joy of reading, a break from school but not from learning.
There’s so much going on nearby that we want to see and do. I don’t understand the “I’m bored” mantra other parents used to complain about because I just never hear it from my generation of kids. Maybe with all the events nearby and screens and Pokemon on demand, boredom simply doesn’t happen anymore. Actually, though, I could do with some boredom because I think that does allow kids to look beyond what they’re used to doing every day and find something new. So whether it’s a full calendar with plenty to do or wide open unscheduled days, I’ll take it all as long as there’s sunshine.
Goldfish Swim School’s Safety Day Celebration is also happening tonight from 5 to 8 p.m. It’s open swim, along with a variety of different safety information areas that I need to know about as a parent, like the latest on bicycle helmets and how they should fit, along with firetruck and ambulance personnel I know it’s important for my kids to see before there’s an emergency so they’re less frightened if they ever do need to talk to uniformed officers.
Tomorrow is one of my favorite events of the season. Edmond Electric’s Touch-a-Truck is going on at UCO from 9 a.m. to noon. It’s a free event with a suggested donation of $2 per person with all proceeds benefiting The Hope Center. We go every year and it has become a tradition for our family’s first summer weekend to start with horn-honking and all the real-life 3D come-and-touch-it versions of the construction trucks my four sons have seen in books from toddlerhood onward.
We’re also just getting started with a YMCA of Greater Oklahoma City membership. My husband and I had wanted to join some type of gym to help get our kids more active and become more physically fit ourselves. The Y, with its many locations and options for classes, felt like a great choice, especially when we learned it’s a household membership with very limited per-child fees that are only extra if they want to do an organized activity. That’s a plus with four children here. I’ll write a full post about our experience next week.
Yoga has become my go-to in the past three weeks for stress relief and if you’re reading between the lines here that I might be a little more stressed out than usual because everyone’s home for the summer, that’s definitely true and a good reason to have a place to get some alone time in the evenings. There’s nothing wrong with taking a break and self-care is especially important for moms right now because, all joking aside, this season is a lot of bright and beautiful things but it’s also a lot for us to coordinate, amiright?
Summer is my very favorite season and I am trying my best to find that balance between too much to do and too little, to know where that line is for little people, maybe even for myself. No matter what your family’s dynamic is this season, I hope you find what works for you and that we can be a part of it here at MetroFamily with all there is to do in this community.
Happy summer!
