School is out or going to be out soon for much of the country. Summer’s almost here.

Have you signed up your kids for swimming lessons yet?

I consider swimming lessons one of the most important activities you can sign your kids up for. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a pool and don’t live near an ocean, lake or river. I just think it’s important that kids know how to swim.

For one, they may have friends who have a pool. If not now, then later in life.

You could also at some point move into a home with a pool or near the ocean, a lake or river where your family might want to go swimming.

Or your kids could just finally convince you that it’s time to go to the city pool.

I’ll be the first to admit that swimming lessons in the early days do not give me peace of mind. Far from it. They make me worry more!

When kids first learn to swim just a little bit, they’re overconfident. I feel that this makes them more at risk. They swim into deeper water and may be more inclined to try a pool out without supervision. But it’s necessary so that they can learn to be stronger swimmers and cut the risk down.

We have rules about swimming in my family. While we do not have a pool, my inlaws do.

Rule #1: Children are not allowed in the pool without an adult. Not even a toe or fingertip.

Rule #2: Children will obey the adults supervising them in the pool.

Rule #3: There will always be at least one adult whose sole job is to watch the kids in the pool. One adult per child is better, with each adult assigned to a particular child.

Rule #4: Children will obey their swimming instructors during swimming class.

Rule #5: No running near the pool.

My kids know that if they break a pool rule, they will not be allowed to go swimming the rest of that day and likely not the next time everyone else goes swimming.

You may also want to check out PoolSafety.gov, even if you don’t own a swimming pool.

If your kids aren’t in swimming lessons yet and are not strong swimmers, get them signed up. Lessons at community and city pools are generally more affordable than private lessons, of course, but they also fill up quickly in the lower levels. Check your city’s website to see what’s available in your area.

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We had a lot of fun today. Went to the school playground after dinner and all just played.

And discovered that my husband and I still have that spark.

OK, so the spark was static electricity. You combine dry air with the usual plastic playground equipment, and you can give some pretty good shocks after going down the slide. We had a lot of fun either tapping the person at the bottom of the slide or kissing each time.

Got some pretty good shocks that way, which is of course what started the spark jokes.

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We’re getting ready to take our summer vacation soon. It’s in part a celebration of my 5th wedding anniversary, but also because we want to visit family up in Oregon and Washington. It looks to be a great trip, but with money being tight, it’s going to be a bit challenging to not overspend.

We are taking several steps to limit our expenses. Even though gas is expensive, it’s going to be cheaper to drive up than it would be to fly then rent a car. We’ll have some basic snacks and water in the car.

With two small children, there will be a lot of potty breaks. No avoiding that, especially since they’ll also be ways to tire the kids out so they won’t get too cranky in the car.

We are fortunate enough to have relatives live at reasonable stopping points for each leg of the trip. The drive is about 1000 miles, so it would be extremely difficult to do in a single day. However, with relatives in Sacramento, we have a very nice stopping point to get a few hours’ rest out of the car without getting a hotel room.

Visiting family is a great way to make a family vacation inexpensive. With most families it’s lots of fun too. But what if you don’t want to visit family this year?

Consider camping. This is something we use for mini vacations as well. Even one night out camping can be fun, and cost fairly little. Find out where your local campgrounds are and how much they cost. If you already own a tent, sleeping bags and other camping equipment, the trip costs very little.

Camping is great to do with the kids. It’s a time for them to get out into nature. It’s a chance to exercise in a beautiful place. I found it interesting a couple months ago, when Ariel and I were taking a Math and Science Together class that they said one of the theorized causes of Attention Deficit is how little time kids spend in nature. Who knows if they have it right, but it’s an interesting concept.

You don’t have to spend a ton of money to have a great family vacation. If money’s tight, skip the hotels and expensive theme parks, and go on a budget vacation. You’ll still build great memories.

[tags]summer vacation, budget travel, camping, visiting family, traveling with children[/tags]

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