Planned Spontaneity

Kat, from The Secret Life of Kat, asked her readers about their summer plans. Here are my thoughts...

It's important to us that Ben has a good summer. It's hard though, because being in the middle of a cancer fight doesn't make it easy to make plans. However, when we don't make plans, too often we end up still in our pajamas in the middle of the afternoon watching way too much TV. We only have one child, so I think this makes things easier for us then for others. Here's what we have done to help Ben have a good summer.

1. We asked Ben what he wanted to do this summer and started a list. He has definite ideas of what he wants to do this summer.

2. We signed up for the summer reading program at our library. Ben is so excited by this. He's read a ton already. I also signed up for the library's summer program, plus I'm participating in Mark Lee's summer reading program.

3. We have signed up Ben for a couple of things through our park district. Our park district has some really cool, inexpensive programs.

4. We are trying to plan our bigger adventures (e.g. a trip to the zoo) during the time that Ron is off chemo and after he's had some time to recover. However, we also know that we have to be flexible.

5. We leave plenty of time to be spontaneous. Sometimes the football calls, and we just have to go outside and play. Other times, we just go to the park.

6. I am not a very good cook at all. I'm trying to work on this. For now, I go to a place called Dinner by Design and create some meals in advance for our family and stick them in the freezer. This helps us avoid a ton of fast-food dining. Some people could easily prepare meals in advance all on their own, but I'm not there yet. Plus, when we are really lacking in time because of doctor appointments, someone from church will go to Dinner by Design and make the food for me.