WEBVTT - Try a summer spreadsheet 

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of my Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to organize your summer with a summer spreadsheet.

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<v Speaker 1>By figuring out who will be doing what during each

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<v Speaker 1>summer week, you can plan a more fun summer for

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<v Speaker 1>your entire household. I have five children. As long time

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<v Speaker 1>listeners know, we employ a full time nanny, but she's

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<v Speaker 1>generally focused on the baby, and with my husband and

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<v Speaker 1>I both working from home, it's good to get the

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<v Speaker 1>big kids out during the day, and so figuring out

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<v Speaker 1>how my school aged kids will spend their summers is

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<v Speaker 1>always a big project. For starters. Some of their schools

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<v Speaker 1>d at different times in June. Everyone has their own interests,

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<v Speaker 1>which means that they want to do different camps in

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<v Speaker 1>our area. My husband and I want to take some

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<v Speaker 1>time off work for family vacations, and I like to

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<v Speaker 1>do what I call mommy days, one on one days

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<v Speaker 1>with each of my kids too. Keeping track of all

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<v Speaker 1>these dates is far more than my brain can handle,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's also hard to see everything and plan everything

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<v Speaker 1>when I'm just looking at my week by week calendar

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<v Speaker 1>as well. So a few years ago, I began creating

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<v Speaker 1>what I called the camp spreadsheet. I sometimes still call

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<v Speaker 1>it that are just referred to it as the summer spreadsheet.

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<v Speaker 1>I put each child's name in a box across the top.

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<v Speaker 1>I put the weeks of summer down the left hand side,

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<v Speaker 1>starting from when the first child's school ends and going

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<v Speaker 1>to our school district's post Labor Day start. I mark

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<v Speaker 1>our vacations, and I have the kids go through the

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<v Speaker 1>camp brochures and choose what weeks they'd like to go where.

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<v Speaker 1>Then I do my mommy triage work and do my

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<v Speaker 1>best to ensure that these weeks overlap. If you would

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<v Speaker 1>like to go to theater camp and your sister also

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<v Speaker 1>wants to go to theater camp, well you will be

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<v Speaker 1>going to theater camp at the same time. I try

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<v Speaker 1>not to have more than two different camps going on

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<v Speaker 1>in any given week, because I have learned the hard

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<v Speaker 1>way that all camps start at nine am. Even if

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<v Speaker 1>I have two drivers, it's hard to go for different places.

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<v Speaker 1>The upside of doing this is that I can see

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<v Speaker 1>at a glance who is doing what when. I can

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<v Speaker 1>see if some weeks are getting full. I can see

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<v Speaker 1>if one child is doing less than other children and

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<v Speaker 1>needs to be nudged to figure out something else for

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<v Speaker 1>the summer that's more edifying than watching videos all day.

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<v Speaker 1>That is, attending what I call camp YouTube. I can

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<v Speaker 1>also aim to have each kid have a week off

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<v Speaker 1>here or there during which we can do our mommy days. Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>this is a fair amount of work, and sometimes the

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<v Speaker 1>work is for not like during summer when all the

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<v Speaker 1>camps I had carefully selected wound up canceled. However, in general,

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<v Speaker 1>creating the summer spreadsheet lets me look at the summer holistically.

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<v Speaker 1>I can see at a glance what the summer will

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<v Speaker 1>look like, and by taking time in the first quarter

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<v Speaker 1>of the year to do this, I am almost guaranteed

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<v Speaker 1>to get spots at the camps I want. Often, I

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<v Speaker 1>get an early bird discount, and I'm generally able to

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<v Speaker 1>book summer vacation spots too. Now, I am guessing that

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<v Speaker 1>most listeners don't have five children, But if you have

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<v Speaker 1>more than one and you live somewhere where there isn't

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<v Speaker 1>year round school, then I heartily recommend creating a summer spreadshee.

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<v Speaker 1>This can help you and other family members get organized

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<v Speaker 1>around vacations as well. You might decide to take a

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<v Speaker 1>personal day here and there to hang out with kids individually,

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<v Speaker 1>or you and your partner might see when you need

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<v Speaker 1>to split kid coverage or when you have kid coverage.

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<v Speaker 1>And maybe the two of you could even take a

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<v Speaker 1>during the week mini vacation, a day trip somewhere during

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<v Speaker 1>camp hours. How nice would that be. I know that

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<v Speaker 1>the words summer and spreadsheet don't seem like they would

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<v Speaker 1>go together, but you know what, I take my family's

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<v Speaker 1>fun seriously, so I have made another summer spreadsheet for

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<v Speaker 1>this year, and I encourage you to try it too.

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<v Speaker 1>You will feel far more organized about the summer, and

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<v Speaker 1>your family will know that there is some serious fun

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<v Speaker 1>coming up in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening,

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<v Speaker 1>and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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<v Speaker 1>me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod

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<v Speaker 1>that's B the number four, then breakfast p o D.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>podcast at i heeart media dot com That Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much.

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<v Speaker 1>I look forward to Staying in Touch Before Breakfast is

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<v Speaker 1>a production of i heart Radio. For more podcasts from

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