Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is about how to plan for fun in
Speaker 1: uncertain times. Long time listeners know that I really love
Speaker 1: to plan. In particular, I love my lists. Every year
Speaker 1: around this time, I post a Summer fun list over
Speaker 1: at my website Laura Vanderkam dot com, consisting of activities
Speaker 1: that make summer feel like summer to me. Some are perennials,
Speaker 1: like strawberry picking, and others are based on summer vacation plans,
Speaker 1: like a Disney trip we've booked for late August and
Speaker 1: early September. Planning lets us anticipate our fun this year,
Speaker 1: though there's a lot of uncertainty. Will amusement parks even
Speaker 1: be open? Will the stay at home order be lifted
Speaker 1: before the strawberry season is over. I've read a few
Speaker 1: think piece is about how this is all teaching us
Speaker 1: the futility of planning. But I think that would be
Speaker 1: a ridiculous lesson to take away from this. Life is
Speaker 1: always uncertain. We are spinning on an improbable planet in
Speaker 1: the middle of cold space. Any of us could die tomorrow,
Speaker 1: but we probably won't, so in general, best to eat
Speaker 1: your vegetables, floss, and contribute to your four oh one k. Likewise,
Speaker 1: we can still plan for fun in uncertain times. We
Speaker 1: don't ever want to become too attached to our plans.
Speaker 1: We don't want to get to the point where our
Speaker 1: happiness or even our self concept rests on our plans.
Speaker 1: This would be like calling off the wedding because it
Speaker 1: might rain life guarantees nothing. But we can plan for
Speaker 1: various scenarios and hope for the best, well figuring out
Speaker 1: what would make us happy and the event of something
Speaker 1: far less than perfect. For instance, my family loves our
Speaker 1: straw berry picking, but if for some unknown reason, outdoor
Speaker 1: activities like strawberry picking are still unavailable in early June,
Speaker 1: we can ask what part we really like. I'm pretty
Speaker 1: sure my kids are most excited about making strawberry shortcake
Speaker 1: with homemade whipped cream, and that we can still do.
Speaker 1: We can plant our own strawberry plants in the backyard,
Speaker 1: even if they never do all that well. Every summer,
Speaker 1: I like to do what I call a mommy day
Speaker 1: with each of my kids. The two of us spend
Speaker 1: one on one time all day doing something the kid chooses.
Speaker 1: I'm still hoping that places like amusement parks and beaches
Speaker 1: will be open, but if not, we can choose other
Speaker 1: things to do together, a special picnic and walk somewhere,
Speaker 1: doing a project, reading stories together, even camping in the backyard.
Speaker 1: We hope for option A, we have option B if
Speaker 1: it doesn't happen, so I encourage you to still make
Speaker 1: a summer fun list. I'm certainly doing so. Some big
Speaker 1: stuff simply can't happen if you don't plan for it.
Speaker 1: You will not get a reservation at Cinderella's Royal Table
Speaker 1: unless you book a hundred eight days out. But if
Speaker 1: a pandemic precludes eating there, well, we've still got a
Speaker 1: lot of princess dress up costumes and the option to
Speaker 1: go on trips and beyond. In the meantime, This is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four then Breakfast
Speaker 1: p o D. You can also shoot me an email
Speaker 1: at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart media dot com that
Speaker 1: before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks
Speaker 1: so much, I look forward to staying in touch. Before
Speaker 1: Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For more
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