Free time is a precious thing for modern kids.  The older children get, the more activities, homework and stress they have.  It's so different than when I was growing up and that is why I make a big effort to keep our summer loose.  My kids are not enrolled in 100 classes and activities during the summer.  I make sure that they have time in the summer to do N-O-T-H-I-N-G. 

I realize that non-productive time is not popular in our society.  But I think it's good to give children unstructured time in the summer to do things that kids are supposed to do.  Activities that are silly, pointless and random are good for kids, in my opinion.  Here are some of the things my kids have done so far this summer:

Pug Training:  Using Arm Farts
I can't make this stuff up.  My oldest daughter and my nephew spent an entire day teaching one of the pugs commands via arm fart noises.  Using the innovative technique of "arm farting", the "faux" sound is used to command the pug to sit or stay.  This is a big deal for the family as this particular dog is pretty worthless.  I am alerting the famous Dog Whisperer about their soon-to-be-famous dog training technique.

The OC Trivia
My secret shame is that I own all four seasons of "The OC" on DVD.  As a 43-year-old woman, this is kind of cheesy but I am a die-hard fan of the show and love it.  My youngest daughter watches some of the pre-screened episodes with me and is becoming quite knowledgeable about The OC trivia.  Naturally the entire show is not appropriate for her but I let her watch certain parts of some episodes.  I doubt that this TV viewing is approved for "Summer Enrichment" but it's been fun.

Call me a bad mom or a "slacker mom" but silly activities are good for the soul and good for the family.   Hope you are having a good summer with some great summer activities like my family!