NANA SAYS JUNE IS A BUSY BUT PRODUCTIVE MONTH WITH CHILDREN

June is a busy month for everyone. Winding down the school year, community meetings will take a hiatus for the summer season and planning for summer vacations and camps can seem never ending and overwhelming. For parents it can seem very hectic with the ending of dance and hockey and the beginning of the baseball, soccer and swimming lessons along with the school functions. Learning to take it with stride. This too shall pass and the ease of a couple of summer months with "the lazy days of summer" arriving. For any working person, the longer days give more time to be outside completing any gardening or maintenance. In all the planning put some real down time. If you like biking then do some family biking around the neighbourhood. Swimming lessons are great but there is nothing like parents and children enjoying water play with the parents doing some teaching of swimming. Just playing at the park. I take my little grandchildren to a small local park where they can play on equipment. The walk there is good exercise for me and time to enjoy the kids. Less can be more with store bought ice cream and cones for a treat. Freezies and of course lots of farm fresh summer fruit makes snack time easy. A simple outing with children is a visit to a local farm to buy the fruit! So as June seems so busy try to think of ways to enjoy and be happy to part of your children's lives. The warmer months are way too short so embrace them and do slow easy things. If you have a row boat, a quiet row on a river is good. Teaching children to paddle a canoe with slow easy strokes let's us take advantage of many worlds. June is a good month to enjoy for itself!