Many children and adults for that matter too, can get bored very easily. Some children and adults are much better at entertaining themselves than others. Creating a healthy structure for the long summer days is a healthy way to keep everyone happy and busy. There are a number of ways to keep kids with ADHD actively engaged during the summer doldrums. First, though, let’s look at the value of structured ‘play’ as a whole.

The Value of Play
Play is important for all of us, but for children with ADHD it is even more critical. Free play provides benefits like: improving stamina, sharpening coordination, strengthening muscles, and providing a number of other mental and social benefits. . In this interview on ABC, Dr. Renee emphasizes that “free play can stimulate right-brain thinking, improve emotional IQ, and gets children thinking outside of the box.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHPlPU3Ex-8

With sports, games, and make-believe free play, children are learning ways to feel and express emotion, developing valuable social skills like getting along with others, and problem solving. In addition, spending time outdoors has proven benefits for children with ADHD. Spending time on a tree-lined street, in a park, or just out in the backyard helps kids with ADHD feel much more focused than kids who spend hours on the computer or on an asphalt playscape.

Suggestions for Summer Success for Kids with ADHD:

• Plan in advance. All children and, particularly, children with attention difficulties often have a need to know what is on the calendar. Many children thrive with and hour-by-hour schedule. When kids know what they will be doing, they are able to relax and focus better.
• Play to the child’s strengths. Doing things kids are good at and enjoy is an excellent way to build resilience and self-esteem. When the activities chosen are just challenging enough, it allows kids to stretch their brains and body in a way that builds healthy self-esteem.

More ideas for Summer Fun:

• Local Recreation Centers – Find out what sports, games, and activities are available that kids may not have the time or opportunity to participate in during the school year. Contact your local rec center to learn more about programs and times.
• Arts and Crafts – Take a trip to any local hobby or craft store and let your child select an age-appropriate craft to work on. This is time to spend together and helps build social skills. Plan the trip and set a time and money limit for success. Brainstorm together what might be purchased during this expedition.
• Nature Trails – A planned hike and picnic is an excellent way to spend some quality family time together, burn off some energy, and soak up the natural beauty of any local park. Many state and local parks have special summer programs for kids, so it’s worth looking into what may be available.
• Volunteering – Getting kids involved by volunteering at a local residential center or nursing home is a way to spend time together and learn how to give back. Not only will this activity keep kids busy, but it enhances self-esteem greatly because they are doing something for other people.

The two key elements of having a successful summer with your ADHD child are staying focused and staying busy. By using activities which play to your child’s strengths, it is easy to find busy and focused fun activities. Summer is an ideal time for all families to work on lifestyle skills. With a little ingenuity and forethought, summer can be a relaxing time – even for families and kids with ADHD.

Dr. Renee suggests recognizing that “mothering”, is a verb and “mother” is a noun. Thus we might very well feel that the person who holds the position of “mother” is not the only one “mothering (the verb)”. Ideally, children will have in their live, adults who do both, hold the position and do the job. However if that is not the case, and you want to remain drama-free here are two rules of thumb to live by:

1. Honoring the position held (i.e. mother, step-mother, friend/aunt/grandma as mom, and even dad as mom); something that feels appropriate to acknowledge the person who holds the position, even if they are not actively doing the job, is a great way to keep drama to a minimum. Yes, there may be angry, hurt feelings here (ex. She does not deserve it), but think of it as a certificate of acknowledgment and a means to taking care of yourself by remaining stress-free

2. Honoring the relationship; when you honor the relationship you are expressing feelings and your appreciation of that person in your life. Here is where you may want to put your thoughtful and heart-felt attention.

Given these two precepts, here are a few creative ideas about how to ease the tensions that can possibly occur around Mother’s day. By keeping these two values in mind and using a little bit of ingenuity coupled with genuine respect for people’s feelings (including your own), there are a number of ways to celebrate. And, if none of these ideas sound appealing or authentic to you and your blended family, then maybe it’s time to put everyone’s collective heads together and come up with a brand new way of celebrating – one that honors either, the position or the relationship, and ideally honors both.

Honoring the position – This can be a simple gesture like giving a card that shows recognition, finding or making a thoughtful gift of recognition, or even a telephone call or face to face interaction of recognition. Simply recognizing the fact that the special person has a role in the blended family life that is important and saying “Thank you,” can be a powerful acknowledgement.
Honoring the relationship – Paying attention in a meaningful way is one way to honor the nurturing relationship itself. Honoring the relationship itself is about the emotional connection that this nurturer provides. One way to show honor is by using eye contact and really listening when the person is talking. Or, participating in a fun family activity like bowling or playing outside in a park (with no cell-phones or technological interruptions) is another way to honor the relationship. Connecting and paying attention all show respect for the relationship itself.

Ideally, there can be a situation where the blended family wants to recognize both the position and the relationship. Here are a couple of ideas:

A Blended Brunch – This is a fab way to get people together in the same place at the same time for Mother’s Day in a blended family. Kids love planning and preparing parties, so, with a little guidance, the entire meal can be prepared by the kids. It’s a fun way to pull together and brunches are one of the easiest group meals to fix, so low-stress. This kind of cooperative activity is a fantastic way of showing honor and respect for both the position and the relationship.

Half and Half, please – Honoring the position and the relationship may require some excellent time management – it’s all worthwhile, though. For example, one Mom or Step-Mom can spend time with the children in the morning until around two in the afternoon. Then the other Mom or Step-Mom can spend time with the children from two o’clock on until the evening. That special time is the perfect way to honor both the position and the relationship in a way that makes children feel valued and loved.

These are just a few of the ideas that can work for a drama-free, hassle-free, mentally healthy Mother’s Day for any family – not just blended ones. The key to celebrating Mother’s Day in a healthy way for blended families is communication and respect. By honoring both the position and the relationship, everyone feels connected and respected. No matter how the day is spent, it truly is an opportunity to put aside any issues and pay homage to everyone who nurtures children in a loving and meaningful way.

Savvy families know that even though everything may not go smoothly or perfectly according to schedule, the fun of any family road trip is in the adventure itself and actually spending time together. Here are 5 Family-Friendly Road trip tips on how to make the most of this family tradition.

The two biggest issues in many families on a road trip are: bathroom breaks and sibling squabbling. Of course, there are a few others, but these two issues tend to be the biggies.

Bathroom Breaks – Always keep a lookout for a budget chain hotel or where the nearest rest-stops are on the road. Budget chains tend to have convenient highway location, have rest rooms in the lobby area and, in many travelers’ experiences, rest rooms which are cleaner and neater than those in gas stations and fast food restaurants.

Sibling Squabbling – Here is an ingenious solution for the sibling arguments and “she’s looking at me funny” annoyances which occur on family trips. Give the children a little project. Each child gets a role of low-tack (not too sticky) masking tape to build a divider between themselves right down the middle of the back seat. This humorous approach soon had everyone laughing and giggling instead of nudging, niggling, and annoying. Of course, it also helps to have a fully-stocked car games box for kids to find ways to entertain themselves that isn’t electronic or made by Apple.

In addition, here are several more practical tips to make sure everyone can relax on the family vacation and have a good time. Relaxing together and spending time is an important part of growing a healthy family. In addition, when we know that our home is taken care of and we’ve got the destination in mind, the trip is definitely all the better.

Caring for the Car: Be sure and have the car serviced before you go – check all lights, windshield wiper fluid and blades, get an oil change (if necessary), and check the tires. If you don’t already know how – learn how to change a flat tire. Make sure that the car manual is safely in the car and that the vehicle is covered by an effective road-side service plan.

Hungry like the wolf: Passengers who are hungry are cranky passengers. Nuts, dried fruit, mints, and crackers travel well. Pre-pack a cooler with healthy snacks and water. Don’t forget to bring a paring knife and a tablecloth to take advantage of any fresh produce stands along the way.

Making it memorable: Kids love to record their experiences. Have children keep a journal of the Family Road trip (younger children can just draw pictures) or get them each an individual disposable camera to photograph the memories. The whole family can have fun looking at all the photos and even create a family montage of the entire trip.

Any trip is as much about the adventures and silly stories that occur in the car in addition to how much the attraction itself is enjoyed and what families see on vacation. The value of family road trips is in the sharing of the adventures and even coming up with new traditions. Although there are no guarantees of a stress-free family road trip, starting with these destinations and tips for traveling well can help make the journey that much easier.

1. Keep it simple: By breaking the cooking project into manageable chunks, kids will stay engaged. Small, easy-to-execute steps are best. For example, measuring and pouring in ingredients, doing some basic mixing, or getting out certain ingredients is easy and fun.
2. Splishy splashy: No matter what age your child is, kids love splashing at the sink. If your child is splashing at the sink, they are safe, happy, engaged — and definitely participating! Plus, your measuring cups and bowls will be very clean.
3. Keep them part of the routine: Part of cooking is cleaning up, which is a useful concept to teach. On the other hand, having a child learn that before helping anyone in the kitchen, they need to wash their hands and bring a step stool or chair over to the counter.
4. Use childproof tools: There are a number of kid-friendly cooking tools. Rubber spatulas and wooden spoons both have easy-to-grip round handles that are just right for pint-size chefs.
5. Hold it steady: Non-skid dishes, bowls, and cutting boards are essential for tiny chefs. If your equipment is not non-skid, anchor it with a damp paper towel. The more you can do to keep it steady, the easier it will be for your young cook to assist.

The secret to successful cooking with kids is to have fun with it. The more you and your children can do together, the closer your family will be. By using your imagination, you can easily come up with ways that children can contribute to the cooking and help you out with this chore.

Gauge their changing interests: As children grow, they may begin to lose interest in previous favorites like soccer or jump rope. The key to encouraging lifelong physical activity is to get them to stay physically active in new ways, if their interests begin to change. Help them find a replacement sport or activity, if old favorites are losing their luster. Doing simple things like kicking a balloon around together or starting a family four-square tournament is one way to establish healthy patterns together.

Show them the benefits of staying active: Kids may not be aware that when they are exercising regularly, there are many benefits. Physical activity helps build strong muscles and bones, controls weight gain, lowers the risk for diabetes, improves your brainpower, and helps you sleep better. Tell them about the benefits and then show them some things they can do to stay physically fit. After all, healthy, physically active kids have higher self-esteem, do better in school, and are more alert and successful.

Have some fun together!: When anyone, adult or child, enjoys something, they will want to do more of it. Making physical activity a regular part of family fun gets everyone doing it more. Whether it is swimming, basketball, or riding a tricycle – kids thrive from the sense of accomplishment they get from doing something physical and they enjoy the sense of fun. When you do physical things for fun together, you are encouraging positive feelings about these activities. That way, they will want to continue it and have more self-confidence and willingness about trying new ones.

Every child has an individual temperament in terms of physical activity. If you understand this and are active yourself, it will be easy to find the right activities for everyone to get enough exercise. Just like adults, there are children who want to pursue excellence in a competitive sport, while others are happy casually participating. Encouraging kids to stay active in any way – whether it is the school team or just playing ball at home for fun – is essential. It is especially important to help kids remain active and find something physical they want to do even if they are not the top performers.

No matter what their fitness personality is, any child can start the habit. A parent’s positive attitude will help with the child who is reluctant to exercise. By being active yourself and supporting your kids interests, they will come to see that being physically active is a normal, fun part of everyday family life.

The top cities to raise children typically have large public outdoor spaces, ample playgrounds, well-performing health care facilities, and strong schools. Many have existing spaces that have been turned into clean, open public parks. Of course, cities that are good for families have stable or booming economies. Here are 3 great cities for raising, happy, healthy families:

Greensboro, NC
Located in a thriving metropolitan area called the Triad, Greensboro is centrally located to take advantage of all the family-friendly amenities this area offers. The cities of Greensboro, High Point, and Winston-Salem are the three points of the triad. In the early 1900s, Greensboro was a textiles and transportation hub. Today, it still has a thriving business community and stable economy. With the central location of Irving Park – a thriving community near the Greensboro Country Club golf course, and its many neighborhoods with fine public parks, there is plenty of outdoor space to explore, run, jump, and climb in. Greensboro also offers views of the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky mountains to the West and access to the outer banks of the Mississippi and Atlantic beaches to the east, Greensboro has just the right temperate climate to get out and explore the natural terrain. Between its family-friendly neighborhoods, stable economy, excellent schools, and thriving healthcare industry, Greensboro is one of the top places in the entire U.S. to raise healthy, active children.

Boise, Idaho
Boise, Idaho is one of the western United States’ finest cities to raise a family. Downtown Boise itself has a thriving cultural center with a unique pedestrian zone, historic buildings, and even the Zoo Boise – which is located on the grounds of the Julia Davis Park. All of the neighborhoods in Boise have a unique flavor and offer access to open spaces and well-kept parks. In this state capital city, Boise State University is located. From many of the tree-lined neighborhoods, such as the North End and Southwest Boise – with the Boise bench, families can easily access the collegiate and cultural amenities on offer. At the opposite end of town, is the Northwest Boise neighborhood with its Veteran’s Memorial Park located on the Boise greenbelt. With the hot springs that flow from Boise’s fault line, it is easy to see why the Natatorium public swim center is such a popular attraction. The Boise School District is nationally recognized for excellence, and as it is both a college town and the state capitol, Boise has premiere healthcare facilities on offer. With its unique combination of open spaces to explore and the cultural amenities a college town offers, Boise is an excellent family-friendly location.

Omaha, Nebraska
In the beginning of the 21st century, Omaha erected several modern downtown skyscrapers and cultural institutions. The robust economy led to companies such as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska building a brand new headquarters there as well. With the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge opened to foot and bicycle traffic along the Missouri River and numerous city parks, there are many places for families to explore by bike or on foot in Omaha. This city in the “heartland” of the United States has numerous historic and newer neighborhoods, which reflect its socioeconomic diversity. With its wide-open prairie spaces, Omaha has a number of scenic suburbs with ample land and recreational amenities. There are also many newer hospitals here. Omaha is a suburban community with plenty of footpaths, open spaces, good schools, and excellent healthcare to offer.

These are just three of the top places to raise kids. No matter what geographic area you are looking to live in, healthy families all start from the same foundation. If you are active with your family, have good communication, and strive to do things that are fun together, you can make any area family-friendly.

Keep on reading and writing: Breaks from school are a fantastic time to activate the imagination. Nothing beats the comfort and excitement of snuggling up to a great book. Alternatively, create a memory book or journal. Writing is an excellent way to preserve family memories and get kids to explore with their imaginations. Even tiny kids can benefit from journaling. Research shows that young children enjoy exploring writing and that their scribbles and scrawls have meaning. No matter how old the child is, reading and writing is a great way to engage the brain in a creative and inspiring way.

Try a camp: Many recreational centers offer special day camps for days off from school. In addition, there are a plethora of seasonal camps, such as winter or summer camps, which are designed to offer a balance of fun, learning, and physical activity. Camps are an easy solution for families to may need to work or are simply catching up on holiday shopping and errands.

Many kids offer different programs for school-age kids, tweens, teens, and even preschoolers. Some even have a focus on math or science in a fun, inviting way. One science camp offers sessions about the magic of flight and a number of ‘hands-on’ them activities like; “Volcano Blast,” “Helicopter Propellers,” and even “Balloon Rockets.” No matter what the focus, most camps integrate physical activity with all core-learning areas such as literacy, science, math, and creative expression.

Turn chores into family fun: Most people forget how simple it is to turn everyday tasks, like cooking, cleaning, and repairing things around the house into a shared, fun time. Come up with ways that you can make household responsibilities kid-friendly and fun. It is a way of spending quality time together while also checking off items on your to-do list. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

1. When you cook together with children, you are exposing them to measurements, mixing, and properties of solids and liquids. All of these help kids learn about math and science. For example, you can have your child measure out flour or show him or her how oil and water separate in a bowl.

2. Cleaning a room – any room – can be fun when you are racing against the clock. Kids love the challenge of a timed activity. If they beat the clock and do a thorough job, you can reward them by allowing them to stay up an extra 10 or 15 minutes past their bedtime or with a simple treat like having a friend come over.

With a little imagination, even the most mundane daily activities can become a time to bond and make family memories. No matter what you choose to do with the break time, keep an eye out for ways to expose your children to the multitude of age-appropriate activities, which allow them to use their imaginations, explore, and have fun learning – all at the same time.

1.) Take on a family project – Whether it is putting together a swing set for the backyard, building a tree house, or simply putting some pillows together for a fabulous indoor fort; finding something that everyone can be involved with is healthy. In addition, it is a great way to get all those niggling little odd jobs done around the house or even make preparing dinner more fun and enjoyable.

2.) Family dinners – While it can seem challenging to do, family dinners are essential for family well-being. It is a powerful way to connect and research shows that tweens and teens that have family dinners are less likely to use drugs or make unhealthy choices. Eating at least one meal a day together is a fantastic time to share daily experiences and re-connect.

3.) Read together – No one is ever too old to be read to. Taking 20-30 minutes a day to read together and listen is a fun way to exercise your imagination and bond. Many of the classics, like Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea or Little Women, are more inviting to kids than you would first think. Try it!

Making time to do fun things together is an enjoyable way to bond, connect, and create a strong family. If you are struggling to find ideas about what to do together as a family, try having a family meeting. At the family meeting, everyone can brainstorm and contribute ideas. Then, you can flip a coin, pick an idea out of a hat, or draw straws to figure out the one to do first. Then, you can have fun keeping track as you complete all of the ideas together.

Of course, nobody is perfect and we all get a little self-conscious about our individual figure flaws. That is why a big part of releasing your inner diva is to accentuate the positive. Whether you feel like you have wrinkles, a Mommy muffin top, sagging arms, or crow’s feet, accept yourself and look for the good. If you have great legs, show them off! You know what your best features are, so let them out and share the love!

There are many online fashion guides and television style shows that can give you some hints and tips about camouflaging your figure flaws and draw attention to your assets. We all have assets, so it is just learning how to play them up and draw attention to them.

That is the outside. On the inside, what gives you confidence is being comfortable in your own skin. When you wear comfortable clothes that are also fashionable and colorful, you are showing the world how wonderful you really are. Part of feeling comfortable is accepting ourselves as the less-than-perfect people we are. When you start from acceptance and then add some fun pieces to your wardrobe or some improved makeup techniques, you are definitely feeling good and looking great from top to bottom.

Divas love shoes, but that does not mean you have to wear anything uncomfortable! There are so many healthy types of shoes, which look good and have the latest fashions. Be sure to find the right height and width that you are most comfortable with. While we all love how Posh Spice looks in heels, it’s important to remember that she actually threw her back out wearing them while pregnant.

Divas also l-o-v-e love accessories, so play it up. Find a jewelry style you are comfortable with, or purchase a new jacket in a classic shape with a bold color. By adding select pieces like a scarf or face-flattering sunglasses, you have just expanded your wardrobe options and added a little more to your repertoire for feeling fine and looking sassy!

As John Lennon said, “We all shine on, like the moon and the stars and the sun!” When you are accepting of yourself as you are — complete with your imperfections — and you use some good fashion sense, your inner diva is ready to come out and play any day of the week, any time of the year!