[00:00:00] Tiffany Sauder: If you're a parent that has toddler kids, early elementary, probably even through like fourth grade, and you're looking for a cheat sheet of how to make summer a little more organized, a little more easy to ring out, some boredom, to ring out some like, no, I don't know what to do, then I think this episode is gonna be a really helpful partner for you.

[00:00:20] Tiffany Sauder: I talk about some things that we've done in our home, some tools and tips I've gotten from my mom who's just like low key, super creative. As a way to make our house feel fresh and new all summer long, even though there's lots of sand on the floor. So anyway, I think this is gonna be helpful to just sort of get your creative juices flowing, to see your space in your kids and your time through the summer and maybe just a slightly new way.

[00:00:46] Tiffany Sauder: I'm Tiffany Sauder, entrepreneur wife, mom to four girls and a woman figuring it out just like you. If you're tired of living a life of half to and finally ready to build a life of want to, then you're in the right place. Come on, let's go Build your Life of And

[00:01:08] Tiffany Sauder: You guys welcome back to another episode of Life of And. You're trying something a little different in this episode as my mom. Not quite this bluntly, but pretty much Mom, love you. She's like, Tiffany, I think you could be a little bit more fun

[00:01:25] Tiffany Sauder: on the podcast. On the podcast. On the podcast. Yeah. She's like, I think your personality needs to come through more. And you need to be a little funnier. I've had other people gimme advice that I should not try to do funny. So we'll see. So I invited Sam, producer Sam to come on the podcast with me, and we're gonna beat Brent.

[00:01:44] Tiffany Sauder: We're gonna make Wendy Schwab laugh. That's right. We're gonna make my mom laugh. And so as, as I was thinking about that feedback, I think it's fair. My mom is a huge cheerleader and also not afraid to tell me, but it's a little boring. And I said, you know, I'm such a people person, I think. My fingers is leading.

[00:02:00] Tiffany Sauder: I'll talk about my fingers in a minute. I think that part of it is just having interaction because it gets so in my head when I'm just talking into the microphone. So, producer Sam is gonna be joining. Yeah. Over here. And we're gonna do the thing. So what happens to your thumb? Okay. My thumb. My thumb. I have a, I have the world's like just ridiculous bandaid on it and it's got blood oozing out.

[00:02:24] Tiffany Sauder: So this morning I was getting ready to leave. I was running about 15 minutes late, which is pretty. Awful target. I was rushing out and I had grabbed my backpack, my purse, and no water bottle standard fare. I can do that on one hand and still have the other hands to do whatever I need to do well today. I also had two other things I needed to bring together.

[00:02:44] Tiffany Sauder: Excuse me. I needed to bring a ring light with like a tripod. And so I had that in my other hand, my right hand. And then I also had a market basket because it's the chip and dip off. Oh, yes. At the agency today, I like to contribute when I can, and so I had like 14 avocados and then I, well, and you can't make that ahead of time or it gets brown and so I have all the ions for, for, or I'm loaded up both hands, you know, tripod ring light.

[00:03:14] Tiffany Sauder: Market basket on one side, water bottle, handbag and and snack bag in the other. And I decided the very last minute to try to go on the pantry to grab some protein. 'cause if you're over 40, you can't be without Yeah. 30 grams of protein in protein. That's what I've learned from it. That's right. Absolutely.

[00:03:38] Tiffany Sauder: 30 grams of protein. So I go into the. Pantry with all this stuff in my hand. 'cause I'm in a hurry, I'm late and I cl in there and somehow the shelf of the pantry, because my protein shakes are like in a way back corner in like this little triangle movement that, but I somehow bash my cuticle. Right where your nail and your like Yes.

[00:04:04] Tiffany Sauder: On the top of the shelf. Right above my things. And it just like. Gas is it and starts just bleeding. So that is why I have this stand on my finger because it's the protein all. Did you all service in protein? I do have, but all, so I left with everything but the kitchen sink this morning. Yeah. We'll see how I do in the chip and de off.

[00:04:29] Tiffany Sauder: Yeah. It's a guacamole. It's kind of my Did you win last year? I feel like you did. Wow. I did well. I always do well and the chip and dip off. And the chip and dip off. If you are around me, people know I love my, I love my own food. Yes. So, yeah. So I've got a thumb, a little maimed today, but I think my mouth, yes, exactly right.

[00:04:53] Tiffany Sauder: So hey, summer kickoff, we're in the, like the summer series and it's Mother's Day weekend. It's weekend. Mm-hmm. What are you doing? Wow. We are going to a blue baseball game downtown. Most about everything. Once Yes. Signed up for that. So that would kind of be sweet though, because Yeah, I think so. It'd be better if like Grace was taking kids.

[00:05:19] Tiffany Sauder: Yeah. You know, it's kinda back in their mind. Wish I had set that up, but we're all going, it'll be fine. It'll be a. But maybe they'll be tired and see afterwards. Yeah, this is my mom's first. My husband's gonna be abandoned dudes on a five day golf trip, which I actually am. I would say only like 1.3% annoyed about it.

[00:05:40] Tiffany Sauder: Like really? I'm not, it's straight. It'll be an incredible trip for him. And this is my mom's first Mother's Day without her money. And so it kind of allows me to go, the girls and I are gonna go up on Friday. Just be super present for that. First that I think no matter how old you are, well you're not old, but you're older than me.

[00:06:01] Tiffany Sauder: Yeah. You know, no matter when you lose your mom, it's still a big deal. So we have a, so being able to be present for her, and my mom did the best idea this year. She's so gifty, I don't know how she does it. She has 17 grandkids, four kids, four in-laws. Like she has to be, it literally has a part-time job to be buying things that are special.

[00:06:19] Tiffany Sauder: But for Mother's Day this year, she got me and my sister-in-laws and my sister. And she's like, you guys are all so busy with your lives and you're all like active and love to kind of move fast. So she's getting us all a pair of sneakers. Your mother's day. Oh, that cute. Is that fun? Yeah. So she's classic Wendy.

[00:06:37] Tiffany Sauder: She's like, I was panicking as I was shopping, so she's like, please just tell me what you wanted and I'll get it for me. Okay. But that was like, I feel like that was a fun, yeah, a fun, thoughtful. Like gifts. Yeah. What did you know what's um, in between that school that we go to is the color is green. And so I sit in the stands a lot these days.

[00:06:55] Tiffany Sauder: So there's a really fun pair of green Adidas sound buds right now that have like pink on them that I think are pretty fun thinking those, or sometimes I find like every pair of shoes is colorful and so I have a hard time finding a pair of shoes that match anything or just kind of a nice classic like.

[00:07:14] Tiffany Sauder: Gold I that's kind of in right now. Yeah. Or the Goa has a really cool silver seeker right now too.

[00:07:21] Samantha Johnson: My, actually,

[00:07:23] Tiffany Sauder: actually, so yeah. Anyway, I think that's a fun gift idea. Yeah. Um, for a friend or, okay. So yes, we're doing summer survival series. Yes. So that's our episode today is about elementary kids and toddler.

[00:07:42] Tiffany Sauder: Like what do you do with them over the summer? How do you keep them entertained? How do you keep them from, I don't know, driving you crazy? I'm bored what I do, or just having like huge toddler meltdowns because there's no agenda specific going on and it just leads to them. So it'll be interesting because you haven't actually.

[00:08:05] Tiffany Sauder: Well, you've kind of seen what I'm talking about today, but you haven't heard this exported.

[00:08:08] Samantha Johnson: Right.

[00:08:09] Tiffany Sauder: And this is not totally your first summer as a working mom, but yeah, kind of. Because last year he was, you know, just still young and enough, but it wasn't big. It was like he would, he's still so, he was so chill.

[00:08:22] Tiffany Sauder: He is almost three this year, and it's just like new ball game, like he just requires a lot more energy. Totally. Yeah. And then Remy, is Remy born? She was born August in this fall. Yeah. Yeah. So first with two. Yeah. Trying to figure out how to manage better. Then. Yeah. So I think it'll be interesting. I think as I'm saying these things, you need to also kind of hold me accountable if you're like, well that's adorable, but that's not actually Yeah.

[00:08:48] Tiffany Sauder: Possible or that's not helpful. Or, yeah, asking questions that go deeper. So I have the teenagers, so the next week episode is gonna be ideas to keep your kids busy without screens for kind of teenagers. And this one is younger, so. Uh, my younger two are nine, almost 10 and four, almost five, and these things work really well for us.

[00:09:10] Tiffany Sauder: So I'm gonna go through, I have a lot of stuff on here. I hope that it feels all helpful. Eight things. I don't do all of these things every summer. But a lot of them, yeah. So I'll go through this stuff and um, and we'll kinda go through it. So before we get started, a note from our sponsors

[00:09:30] Tiffany Sauder: think I'm gonna talk through some stuff. And if you're thinking, holy crap, I don't even have time for this, Tiffany, that's adorable, but I'm sorry, my eyes are bleeding. Or maybe your thumb is bleeding. Like my thumb is bleeding, my eyes and my thumb were bleeding. I'm telling you, you need to try getting rid of your laundry.

[00:09:46] Tiffany Sauder: Sending it out. There's a lot of different ways to do it, but I would recommend starting Poplin, and you can use my code Tiffany, 15 for $15 after your first load. So outsource your laundry. You literally put your dirty clothes. In a trash bag and you put it outside the back of your house. Make, I promise you'd have time for that.

[00:10:04] Tiffany Sauder: Yes. It's like Instacart, like someone just comes to your house. Yes. Takes your laundry away and then it comes back full day clean. So nice. Within 24 hours for $1 pound. So one big white trash bag, like 20 bucks. And I just give you $15 off. And don't be a jerk and not tip. You gotta tip a little. Yeah, for sure.

[00:10:22] Tiffany Sauder: We're in the service economy friends, but. For less than 20 bucks, you can try this and it will give you hours back For my family of six, and again with rugs and. All, you know, sheets and you know, t peas still. Well, and it's summer. I feel like they put on like side more outfits Totally over the summer than they do during the school year.

[00:10:45] Tiffany Sauder: Yes. It doesn't mean you can't still run your own washing machine sometimes, like for a load of towels, but try sending it out. Okay. Poplin Tiffany 15, it's your code. Go try it and tell me about it. I'm telling you, you guys it will change your life. Yeah. Okay. And we actually created a guide center, sanity guide to like, it has everything we'll talk about today.

[00:11:01] Tiffany Sauder: From the last few episodes too, and I need code on it. And it's like some best practices for Poplin too. So you can download that in the show notes. Okay. Super. Like for podcasters. Okay, I'm gonna go through these eight things, but I'm gonna give you a little bit of a background. Again, this is not a podcast that's telling you what you should do.

[00:11:21] Tiffany Sauder: It's simply offering up the way I think about things the way JR. And I think about things in our family and. Some stuff I've tried or kicked out from other people in my life that have really helped get the summers work just better. So overall things, number one, I like to keep camps to a minimum. I know lots of families do lots of camps, no problem.

[00:11:42] Tiffany Sauder: There's not a wrong way to do it, but I like to keep camps to a minimum. I like my kids being around our house, and I want my kids to be able to have the skill of unstructured playtime. I think like so many other things in our lives, we have to learn how to be bored. We have to learn how to have ideas, we have to learn how to manage our time.

[00:11:59] Tiffany Sauder: And for me, one of the ways of doing it is keeping camps to a minimum, but the day does have to have some structure to it or the, or literally time becomes this Anita. I mean, it's like that for us, even as adults, you know? So can I argue for like why we're doing camps this summer? Yes. Okay. We have chosen to do two day camps.

[00:12:21] Tiffany Sauder: Through the summer with 10, because we're in the phase where we have one in daycare, one in preschool, so to pay for full-time daycare, which is like the cost of daycare right now is insane.

[00:12:32] Samantha Johnson: Mm-hmm.

[00:12:32] Tiffany Sauder: Plus a full-time nanny was just like a crazy thought to us. Like we just couldn't like. Just didn't wanna do that.

[00:12:39] Tiffany Sauder: It was like way too much. So we decided to do two day camps through the summer for fun. And then do, we're having our mother-in-law watch him the other two days, or we'll do, we might also like in and out, like babysitters, things like that. Mm-hmm. Throughout the summer. Um, to balance it out. Yeah. And then I know in the future we'll do a nanny for the summer, but just like in the season mm-hmm.

[00:13:02] Tiffany Sauder: One in daycare still, it was like, that's just a crazy price. Especially 'cause she's like. And at daycare, like that's the highest cost and it's already so much a week that we just feel like we get it. Because if you pulled her out for the summer and just had nanny, you couldn't get her back in. No. Yeah. We have to keep paying, so.

[00:13:19] Tiffany Sauder: Mm-hmm. And just like financially was the only wise thing, thing to do, you know? Totally. And then. Just at his age, I think going two days a week will make the fall and he goes back to school like full time. Mm-hmm. Just a better transition for him because he'll be. Used to it in the run of it. Plus I think this is really different too.

[00:13:43] Tiffany Sauder: Um, at three, for them to be home alone all day long with the nanny. It's so much for everybody. It's a long day for him. It's a long day for the nanny. Like yeah. It's just too much, honestly. Like attention. Yeah. I've found. Mm-hmm. Um, if Quincy wasn't like a tween age, like her and Lexi just like, go get a teenager and she's in school too, has a week go.

[00:14:04] Tiffany Sauder: She was home. Well, she had like bigger sisters to play with, so I feel like that makes it Yeah. In the summer. Whereas he's like, he just doesn't have any kids there with them to play with. So. Totally. I think in this season, and I'm not dogging camps, they are totally such important partners to parents. I mean, I'm not dogging them at all.

[00:14:23] Tiffany Sauder: At all. At all. They're super helpful and we will do several of them, some dance camps and some things like that. Yes. But I think if as a parent, you're wanting your kids to be home soon.

[00:14:33] Samantha Johnson: Yeah.

[00:14:33] Tiffany Sauder: The other is I try to get ahead of things when they're gonna be hungry and have healthy food options available beforehand.

[00:14:39] Tiffany Sauder: When anybody's hungry, things go off the rails, and we'll talk about that a little bit, but having structure around when are we going to eat? My pantry is not, doors are not always open except for fit. Win fit is at our house. Sam's little guy is the snackies hand. He's like, God. Two little chocolate tips and that is like his security.

[00:15:00] Tiffany Sauder: Yes. These are, I found that right. They're melting in my hands. I have them and keeping and being thoughtful about when they're fed, when they're hydrated, because that creates in my head like this strong baseline. The data build off them. When you start off with a crappy breakfast, when they forget to drink water, when they're not, like, when that sort of nutrition structure is not in place, there's like no chance you're gonna have a good day.

[00:15:22] Tiffany Sauder: So that's just some backdrop things overall that I like to keep in mind. And kinda how we think about it. Okay. We're gonna dig into the eight things. Number one, don't have every toy in craft and Nerf gun and everything available to them all the time, right? So literally cycling some things out of the main play area so that you don't have access to all of it all the time.

[00:15:47] Tiffany Sauder: It makes it new again when it, when it wasn't an option for a few days a week. So that can be that like, you know, literally you just like move bins. Maybe on Saturdays and you put some things away and move it to the top shelf and you, the next Saturday you move some things out. But not having everything available all the time gives them fewer choices, which is actually more helpful.

[00:16:07] Tiffany Sauder: And I really just observed this in like the like preschool environment that my kids are in. They don't have everything available to them all the time. It's like, this is water table time and we're gonna do it for 30 minutes. And the kids are like, oh Lord, this is great. The water table hasn't been available to me and now it's out and I can play with this.

[00:16:26] Tiffany Sauder: So take a cue from that and have some type of structure where things can be rotated out. On different shelves, whatever that looks like. Yeah. That's something I've realized, like just in the last, I don't know, few months. So I'm like, I need to start doing that because he all of a sudden thinks he has nothing to play with because there's everything to play with and he just can't pick.

[00:16:47] Tiffany Sauder: Yes. Yeah. And we also get, I think, a decision. Yeah. Like I don't know what to do. Yeah. So that's one Another is to create zones for different things to happen. My mom is incredible at this, and this is totally where I've learned this, but we can have like, we can get in the, which I understand to be like, Hey, the basement is the play place and all the toys are on shelves down there, kind of all in one place and we have set up in our house.

[00:17:14] Tiffany Sauder: I mean, mom, like I said, is something this, I've been like zones for different things to happen, so we have like a Barbie zone. And we have our two Dream Barbie houses. 'cause we have a million girls. We have our Barbie things, they've got their Barbie crafts. This is like the Barbie room. And then we have a craft zone where I have a table and there's bins and there's markers and there's stickers and there's paints.

[00:17:34] Tiffany Sauder: And it's like, this is where we do crafts. So that all that stuff kind of works together. We have an American girl doll zone. It's like this is where all of their stuff is. Again, we have girls for days and so it's like, I can't believe you have all these things for all these zones. Well, we've been giving gifts for girls for 16 years, so we have a lot of accumulating.

[00:17:51] Tiffany Sauder: Yes, a lot of girls. We have a reading zone with books and a baked bean bag. We have a Lego zone, we have our gymnastic stuff all goes to the same place and then we can bring that out pretty easily. And put that all away. We have a game zone, like actually that's kind of in our living room area where the girls will get out puzzles and games and that stuff on the main floor because it's clean and it's picked up and it's easy to get out of board game when it's, there's like a simple, clean service surface.

[00:18:20] Tiffany Sauder: So I think about. How you set your space up physically to feel new for your kids in the summer. I'm working on this right now. I'm gonna build this little, I'm not going to, you hear me? I was like, are we building? So I got a hammer am made that I am gonna have a handyman build like a, the infrastructure.

[00:18:42] Tiffany Sauder: The structure for like an American doorbell house. Oh, that's a good idea. We have so much American doorbell stem will get all off the floor. And it will make that room feel totally different to get all, we have like two beds, a kitchen, a you know, all this stuff. Yes. And have to build a little garage so the car can go in there.

[00:18:59] Tiffany Sauder: Yeah. I'll go that it will get all that stuff off the floor in their room. It will make that room feel completely different. Yeah. I don't know. I'm guessing it'll probably cost me $600, which is like one week of canned times about that in a minute. So clean out your stuff before summer comes. So right now summer's cut.

[00:19:15] Tiffany Sauder: The kids have like four weeks of school left, so I'm literally going through like all the market bins and throwing away all the one and make it fresh again. Yeah, like brand new sidewalk chalk. I got Summer Finn and he was like two chunk it. Amazing. Yes. You know, in bubbles. Yeah, yeah. Yes. This is actually my third one is make their normal toys fresh again.

[00:19:34] Tiffany Sauder: Okay. Yes. It helps so much. Totally through all the old sidewalk chamber, broken crans. The trophy. Crays, get new marker. Get totally fresh. New construction paper. Or if your kids are like into like, we don't have boys on like, I don't know, like 200 or gum darts. How exciting. If I was a little boy? Yeah, yeah.

[00:19:51] Tiffany Sauder: Or like a new set of cones so they can set up obstacle courses or. Some jump ropes or like new Play-Doh even it gets all like dried out or next up and so they don't lose it and it's like 45 blocks. You can refresh all of those things and it makes it just so different and you don't even have to go get new, new things.

[00:20:13] Tiffany Sauder: I have found, I got rid of half of my girls is baby dolls. Just get rid of them and go to Goodwill and buy two more. The whole baby doll experience is new again. Yes. I got rid of half, so there's fewer to pick from. And we went and spent few and a half. Well, and you've told me you let them like take, go to the pool.

[00:20:29] Tiffany Sauder: It's like you sent like three bucks or whatever. So they take 'em to the pool and if they lose it, it's like, I don't care. I don't care. Totally. I don't care. So Goodwill is a replaced. I love a good garage sale. Oh

[00:20:40] Samantha Johnson: my lord. Yeah.

[00:20:41] Tiffany Sauder: Love a good garage sale. So fun. Even getting things like picnic blankets. Mm-hmm.

[00:20:46] Tiffany Sauder: Yeah. And putting that in the center of the basement. We put a rug down there. It isn't that new. It's even cute. It's kind of hairy. You can get lost it. You know, I put a rug down there and it just made the basement feel different and the girls were using that as like their little area where they were pretending like that was their house.

[00:21:01] Tiffany Sauder: So yeah, make it fresh again. Make it feel new. And it doesn't have to be brand new. Get into a game. Swap with a na. Like, can we have three of your games? And you can have three of ours, or pulls a swap. Like just make it fresh into again. Think about how good it feels when you get in your car and it's been clean.

[00:21:19] Tiffany Sauder: Or how excited you feel to like put on a new sweater with all a pair of jeans or do rent the runway and be like, oh God, I just like feel different myself. I think that's how their toys are, are to them, how they experience. Yes, probably so. Okay. We talked about creating zones, making their normal toys fresh.

[00:21:37] Tiffany Sauder: Again. Again, this is a place where instead of paying a bunch of money for camps. I have said, I don't know, I probably would spend a couple thousand bucks on camp sending them out, and so I'll spend, I'm not afraid to spend a thousand dollars or a few hundred dollars. Just making their spaces fresh again, giving them things to play with because I'm like, that really anchors them into our home experience.

[00:22:00] Tiffany Sauder: Mm-hmm. And that's where I want them to play. And you like outside twice, so they're like excited to go outside. Yeah. And play like it can be a hose, a sprinkler. It does not have to be before. Yes. We have a lot of janky things. And they have mostly, yeah, you do need some stuff that's not amazing so that you can take it to the pool and they can build forts outside and.

[00:22:21] Tiffany Sauder: Get a sheet, do an outdoor, outdoor movie. Like those things just kind of break it up. So I think the thing that knowing all of that is it's not going to happen well without some fo planning. Mm-hmm. And it does not need to be that you are scripting every single day, but having. An hour on the weekend where you're looking at the next week and kind of thinking through, what am I sorting?

[00:22:41] Tiffany Sauder: What am I moving? Yeah. Order all your Amazon stuff and have a big laundry basket in your closet and every week you told to one things out that you know they're gonna love.

[00:22:50] Samantha Johnson: Mm-hmm.

[00:22:51] Tiffany Sauder: It doesn't have to be treat day every day, but it does keep kind of the summer I think you moving in from. Okay. Next one. Let them know the schedule.

[00:23:00] Tiffany Sauder: TI think all kids love expectations.

[00:23:03] Samantha Johnson: Mm-hmm.

[00:23:04] Tiffany Sauder: And when they're in the rhythm of daycare or the nanny coming or going to preschool or whatever the thing is, if that changes in the summertime, it can be easy to just be like, they should know what's happening. They have no idea what's happening. Yeah. If we don't tell them what's happening.

[00:23:19] Tiffany Sauder: Mm-hmm. Um, and so we're gonna have, we have, my teenagers will be here at our house and I'll have my nanny there some days as well, but. My plan is to set up in my daily schedule three breaks during the day in the morning to have a 15 minute morning break so that I can come out, I can walk around and I can, the kids will all be home.

[00:23:39] Tiffany Sauder: I can answer any questions, I can satisfy the needs. Yeah, as for real or imagine as they might be. And so having a 15 minute morning break, just putting it in my calendar, walking out, doing things, putting some snacks out. Making sure what you know, that Hey, everybody drink a glass of water. Yeah. Because at school they have a snack.

[00:24:00] Tiffany Sauder: Yeah. Yes. They get up, eat breakfast, and they got snacks in the morning and so then they're hungry. And then the same thing, I'll do 30 minute lunch break where if there's my nanny, the big kids are home, be like, everybody needs soup outside. We're gonna eat outside and make sure everybody eats something healthy.

[00:24:14] Tiffany Sauder: Everybody's gonna drink some water. And then the same thing, another 15 minute break in the afternoon. Yeah, that's smart. Just resolving issues and take that time. If, if your kids can read posting what your break times are that day, kind a post-it note on your office door, we'll help them know when they will have access to your time.

[00:24:33] Tiffany Sauder: Right. Because then they head think it's like so forever. Yeah. They don't know. And little kids don't understand time, but then my nanny can say, Hey, at 10 15 mom's gonna have a break. Yeah. Or my teenagers can say, Hey, in half hour go watch one show and you know, will be out here pretty soon. So let them know the schedule, kid number five.

[00:24:53] Tiffany Sauder: Give them control, choice, and variety. I'm a list person. I don't know if I've trained my kids to be list people or if all kids are list people, but No, I know, I know. You ever made a list with Finn? No. I don't know if he could like articulate it yet. No. But if you wrote down like five things, we're gonna get dressed, we're gonna brush your teeth, we're gonna eat breakfast, and we're gonna go outside and play.

[00:25:19] Tiffany Sauder: Yeah, but he, I don't know. I can't remember it. It would have to be like visual pictures. I've not heard of that. Where like by the time routine where people use like visual pictures to like walk into all that. So that's like the same. Yeah. And Quincy and I have Fridays together at home. I almost always have something I have to do.

[00:25:36] Tiffany Sauder: Mm-hmm. And she's gonna be in annoyed that I'm working. Right. And so we draw, she draws the pictures. Mm-hmm. As we, I say the things to even, she knows what they need. Yeah. And she'll cross them off. So. Make a list of what's happening that day. I will draw pictures for Ancy Ivy, the, my rest of my kids can read and let them check it off and give them ideas to pick from, of what they can do through them.

[00:25:58] Samantha Johnson: Mm-hmm.

[00:25:58] Tiffany Sauder: So again, when every toy in your house, when every possible activity, they can't always think of, like, go build a board, we'll make a card for grandma's birthday. Go. Yeah. That makes, and literally putting a post-it note of like, these are six ideas I have of things you can do for the day. It gives them.

[00:26:16] Tiffany Sauder: Something. 'cause when they say I'm bored, they just, they just like literally can't think of something fun to do.

[00:26:22] Samantha Johnson: Right.

[00:26:22] Tiffany Sauder: And so I think it takes the hard out for them. And I have a list of just things that I know we have that stuff to do. I've gotten paid. Go downstairs and organize your Barbies. Yeah. Make go pack for a trip we're going on.

[00:26:36] Tiffany Sauder: Or you know, circle some things in this magazine for your birthday. Right. I don't know what to do. So. That's giving them some control and some choice. Looking ahead of the weather, I would do this in our family meetings. Literally have the week and draw, like it's gonna be sunny on Monday, it's gonna be rainy on Tuesday, it's gonna be cold on this day so that they know, okay, Monday will probably go to the pool.

[00:26:58] Tiffany Sauder: Tuesday it's gonna be indoor time. Mm-hmm. And I've got a few ideas of things that they can do, step that we've been wanting to plan. So again, it's like, dang, to me this sounds really tedious. It's like it takes all the solving of the day away. When you take 15, 20 minutes and sit down with them on the weekends and say, let's all understand what the weather's likely gonna be, what days are we gonna do what?

[00:27:20] Tiffany Sauder: And up have a few ideas in the context of the weather, in the context that he's gonna be home. About what's gonna happen. I wanna take a quick moment to thank my partners at Share Your Genius. For the past four years, they have been an incredible part of my journey. Behind the Microphone, Share Your Genius is a content and podcast production agency that helps leaders and brands bring their message to life.

[00:27:43] Tiffany Sauder: So whether you're trying to find your voice, develop a content strategy, or get your leader behind a microphone, they're gonna help you make it simple, strategic and impactful. Another thing, we have a, a family or two that we have routine play dates with that we just break up the monotony from the kids.

[00:28:00] Tiffany Sauder: Yeah. I suspect Lucy will be over at our house once a week this summer, and I suspect my brother's kids will be over now. Your neighborhood kids? Yeah. All the neighborhood kids. Yeah. So that's mostly where we live in a neighborhood of five homes. And I have said, I, I never wanted to live in a big neighborhood because I don't wanna lose my kids.

[00:28:21] Tiffany Sauder: To every other people's backyard stuff because they're not wonderful. It's just at home that much. And so to have one more place where I lose them to, I was like, I don't want to, but where there's a lot of kids, do it again. Yes. Yes. Starting to change a little bit. Then setting up a part-time sitter. If you don't have a full-time nanny, you're working from home with kids.

[00:28:37] Tiffany Sauder: Even in that like seven to 12 age, they're kind of that tweeny having. A part-time sitter or a high school kid that comes and like takes him to the tool or takes him on an Audi a couple of days a week. Mm-hmm. Breaks up the monotony for everybody.

[00:28:53] Samantha Johnson: Yeah.

[00:28:54] Tiffany Sauder: And it doesn't come with a expense necessarily of a full-time manual summer long, but it kind of break things up.

[00:28:59] Tiffany Sauder: So that's some ideas there. It's just such a random thing, but I'm gonna do this, this center sunscreen and at breakfast.

[00:29:08] Samantha Johnson: Yeah.

[00:29:09] Tiffany Sauder: I feel like thought that's great. It takes away the to do. Yeah. And then you're not like hiding them at the pool to, or just like to go outside. Yeah. And if they end up staying up at two and a half hours or they never go outside, it doesn't, I don't have to jump in there.

[00:29:24] Tiffany Sauder: Yes. So I'm gonna sunscreen to breakfast. Yeah. I mean, this is, I love have it stacking and I'm, I feel like I've missed sunscreen a bit. I'm not quite as psycho about it because I, I don't miss them as much into, right. Okay. I have two more left. Let me back up real quickly before I get into this one and get a quick backdrop.

[00:29:46] Tiffany Sauder: So in the life of and Academy, I teach the difference between implicit expectations and explicit agreements. So when we have implicit expectations of one another, we have these unstated. Things mm-hmm. That I think I'm gonna get from you or I think you want from me, and vice versa. Things that you want, you know what you need want from me, or what I think you want from me.

[00:30:10] Tiffany Sauder: And it's all very implicit. Mm-hmm. And as a result, it becomes very mushy and hard to manage. And you are emotional state, you are busyness state, like all kinds of other factors can kind of change this implicit thing. But when there are explicit agreements, a, it's gone from. Being very mushy to being very clearly defined.

[00:30:31] Tiffany Sauder: Yep. That's one that's making it explicit. But the second is it's an agreement, so both parties understand it and it sort of agree to be compliant and governed by the thing. Yeah, it takes the struggle out. So number six is decide what you're really gonna care about and make explicit agreements around it.

[00:30:52] Tiffany Sauder: I'm going to use this one and this one about toddlers and the same thing in teenagers. It's the same, but what are you really gonna care about? Because when new rules emerge as the summer goes on, that starts to feel like a movie charter for the kids. And when they have to come and ask you about everything, because everything's implicit, that starts to become exhausting.

[00:31:13] Tiffany Sauder: And then they start getting in trouble for things that they didn't even know that they needed to be thoughtful about. Like for example. One of my explicit agreements with my kids is around snack. That, yes. What is this one pantry? One French? Yes. One pantry. One fridge. And they would all say when they get home from school, when they get home from somewhere if they want a snack, that is no problem.

[00:31:34] Tiffany Sauder: I don't police our food. But if they're gonna get a snack, it has to be one pantry, one food. They don't have to get something, one fridge. They don't have to get, but needs like something fresh or not, not like a process, like package, so they don't have to get something from the pantry, but that's where all kids start.

[00:31:52] Tiffany Sauder: Yeah. And so if they're gonna eat something from the pantry, then they need to also eat something from the fridge. So fresh fruit, fresh les, a cheese stick, a yogurt, something like that. And it find it regulates their blood sugar and they don't get into this like chemical satiation, quality processed foods.

[00:32:10] Tiffany Sauder: Yeah. And it balances out what they eat. I know they're getting some protein, they're getting some fiber, some fresh things, and I've just, it's generally they eat less and that's the case. Yeah. I find moderation is much easier for them, and I know they're getting something faster. They're not getting headaches.

[00:32:23] Tiffany Sauder: So that is a very explicit agreement that is. So clear to every kid in my house. Yeah. And it, the other way that I govern what they eat is just by what's available in the pantry,

[00:32:36] Samantha Johnson: right? So

[00:32:37] Tiffany Sauder: I don't have, you know, certain things all the time. And there are treats that we'll have in there sometimes. So it's very explicit.

[00:32:44] Tiffany Sauder: One pantry, one fridge. It's a very easy thing to teach a kid. Another, I really only have three explicit agreements. But I'm gonna set it for the summer with my little, that was the snack thing, which is not new. That's a lime mul during the school year. The second is that they can watch the iPad two times a day for 25 minutes each.

[00:33:02] Samantha Johnson: Mm-hmm.

[00:33:03] Tiffany Sauder: Twice a day. Or if they wanna watch that 25 minutes twice, that's fine. Whenever I'm gonna give them total control over when they do it. Okay. 25 minutes, twice a day. And if they don't get off of it, so they know when they start watching the iPad, they say, Alexa set the timer for 25 minutes. So. Use Alexa as a timer, use it as a partner of you to kind of help the kids know, or even be like every day alarm should go off that says, Hey kids, it's time to go upstairs and get your clothes on if you want that to go off at nine 30.

[00:33:33] Tiffany Sauder: Yeah. And it's kind of the sign to clean up breakfast and go get your clothes on. I use Alexa as a time partner because they get pulled into a vacuum. So they set the timer for 25 minutes and they also know, again, explicitly if. They don't shut the iPad off at the end of 25 minutes and they see it or find out, then they don't get the iPad at all the next day.

[00:33:55] Tiffany Sauder: Oh, that's dead. It's just very clean. Yeah. It's not threatening. I'm not mad at you. If you wanna go over today, you totally understand what's gonna happen as tomorrow. You don't get it at all. So I try to teach them that. Why? You know, I know why it's important not to in the iPad all time. You're not being terrible.

[00:34:12] Tiffany Sauder: No, totally. Yeah. So that is number two. And then number three, when the door is closed to my office, you can't come in unless somebody's bleeding. But nothing is ever happening like that. Insane. And so I was even thinking about this. You could make a system for your kids. Mine is just that. The door flows as, you can't, it's a door as closed.

[00:34:30] Tiffany Sauder: You can't come in. But you could have kind of a. Red, yellow, green kind of a vibe where there's like scrunchies you put on the door now or something and it's like green. You can come in and out as needed. Maybe you need the door closed because of sound or something, but if it's green, hey you can come in if it's yellow, like only if it's urgent and if it's red, which kids?

[00:34:49] Tiffany Sauder: Everything. There're urgent. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe I, I'll just, I just said doors open and close. Yeah, but if you need, if you need your doors closed, I was like, you could use it some color code. Yeah. That's smart. Okay, last one. This is Jr's idea. My husband has a really cool thing that he did at Ivy. So the, the eighth one is reward the behavior you what you want versus only penalizing when they do it wrong.

[00:35:16] Tiffany Sauder: So if you set out a plan for the family and you say, Hey, this is the week. These are the time periods that I need to, you know, can't be interrupted or these are the activities, this is the place that I need you guys to be self-starters or to play well or to, you know, sort of make the piece, give them stars or points or some way of them knowing like, did I win the day?

[00:35:38] Tiffany Sauder: Likes landing. It was a 10. Did I do medium or did I really kind to fail the system and I didn't do well? And if there's a certain number of stars or points wherever you do it that they get in a week, then go do something fun. Yeah, go get ice cream on Friday night. Go play a game together. Go do family Olympics outside.

[00:35:56] Tiffany Sauder: Like go do something to celebrate the fact that everybody played their role this week. And we work together as a team and a family celebrate together and let's pay attention so that they feel rewarded. When, when they did the hard things of saying, well, I cannot come to you right now. Can you figure it out with your sister?

[00:36:15] Tiffany Sauder: Can you figure it out with your sibling? Can you play just 15 minutes longer? I think it rewards their determination. It rewards their creativity, it rewards their respect of the implicit, explicit agreements. Like I just, I just like that a lot. One of the things that JR did with Ivy, 'cause she's such my iPad kid, is he told her that she, you would give her a dollar.

[00:36:41] Tiffany Sauder: He gave a dollar for every minute that she

[00:36:44] Samantha Johnson: minute

[00:36:45] Tiffany Sauder: read. More minutes than she watched tv. Oh, okay. See what I mean? Yeah. Not just minutes of reading, but it had to like counter up be more minutes than she watched tv. She started to realize, man, these TV minutes. Really? Yeah. They could completely, he make her dollars, you know?

[00:37:05] Tiffany Sauder: Yeah. And it was a amazing, he didn't give her like a goal of 30, you know, $30 a week or anything like that. He was just like. I'll make an agreement with you that if you want some money and want some whatever it was that for what? And so she had this whole tally chart going for like a month, and then she gave up on it because it was just really hard.

[00:37:27] Tiffany Sauder: Yeah. But it made her, I'm under, so she's nine when he did that with her. But it made her understand time in a different way. Yeah. Because she made her all aware of how much time laying on the Yeah, like Jared, just like reading, reading, reading. It's like as it been 30 minutes yet, it's like it's been fixed.

[00:37:44] Tiffany Sauder: Yes. Six. Yeah. So I thought it was really creative. Yeah. I'm sure there's other ways to apply that kind of an idea where. That people are more creative than me on this microphone right now for do, do you have any idea, like, I think you like kinda like the star idea, like giving them a star for every time they're doing something good.

[00:38:04] Tiffany Sauder: Especially I think with the topic, like there's just so many, like meltdowns and difficult things in their days, so to like, do you have them a star when they're doing something really good? It's like, oh yeah, I, I like, I am a good kid. Well, and like again at daycare or I know sometimes in like potty training, they'll give like one m and m, like it can literally be the tiniest.

[00:38:25] Tiffany Sauder: Symbol of positive feedback. That makes such a huge difference.

[00:38:29] Samantha Johnson: Yes. Yeah.

[00:38:30] Tiffany Sauder: We're back on the star train with the almost side, almost a 5-year-old. She's PS the bed at night.

[00:38:36] Samantha Johnson: Yes.

[00:38:37] Tiffany Sauder: And she does not wanna wear a diaper, which I understand. She's like named off all of her friends the do diapers anymore, her bed.

[00:38:43] Tiffany Sauder: If she could listen to this podcast, she'd be horrified that I was sharing this to everybody. Don't they wear them at night? Like it takes kids a long time sometimes to see her a long time. So if she gets seven stars except dry, then I let her not wear a diaper until she pees two nights in a row and then she's back in diapers.

[00:39:01] Tiffany Sauder: So we're back in diapers right now. We have three and a half stars and she negotiated a half star the night before or less. 'cause she said it was just a little, just a. Little, like some amazing two, three starts. I don't know. So, okay, that's the list. Think made it through how to keep your kids busy without scream.

[00:39:21] Tiffany Sauder: And it's like, dang, why does it take so much energy? But I think this kind of goes back to that thing that Brian Vicki said in our episodes that you've gotta sit down and think, what's the experience I want my kids to have with summer? And for me, I want my kids to exit summer or to think back on their childhood and say.

[00:39:39] Tiffany Sauder: Summers were fun. Mm-hmm. And I remember being home.

[00:39:43] Samantha Johnson: Yeah.

[00:39:43] Tiffany Sauder: And I remember having the chance to be creative and I remember being able to do things that didn't always have form.

[00:39:52] Samantha Johnson: Yeah.

[00:39:52] Tiffany Sauder: That's what I want my kids to say about summer. So the work I do and setting up these zones and moving toys around and trying to be creative and like literally have a saved folder.

[00:40:04] Tiffany Sauder: Whatever it's called. Pens. On Instagram, I have a little like saved.

[00:40:09] Samantha Johnson: Mm-hmm.

[00:40:09] Tiffany Sauder: That's just kid activities, ideas that I'll go visit when I'm like trying to help the kids be more creative. Yeah. And Pinterest has so many things, so yeah. So many ideas. I've not seen this sometimes so little. One of my favorites that I saw, I was taking a bunch of wine, tiny figurines and putting them in a bowl of water and bruising it.

[00:40:28] Tiffany Sauder: And giving the kids a little Stop it. Uhhuh a yeah, hammer. That's fun. Yeah, that fun. Even pouring warm water over it. Like how fun. Yeah. So, and that'll take, you can't do that in like three minutes 'cause you have to plan ahead. But those things like how do I use stuff in my house? Yeah. Really? Yeah. Another one of my favorite summer things and then we'll be done, I promise.

[00:40:47] Tiffany Sauder: Paint brushes. Paint rollers and a bucket of water. Yes, it's amazing. Paint the concrete. Mm-hmm. And use sidewalk chalk. And then paint the sidewalk. Chalk of water. Yep. Glorious mess for so long. Yeah. Costs like no money. We'll spend hours on it. Alright guys. Summers aren't perfect. No season is, but smile your way through it.

[00:41:10] Tiffany Sauder: Thanks for listening to Life of And. and this is your weekly reminder to keep making bold choices, saying clear yeses and holding space for what matters most. As always, if you like this episode, I'd love for you to drop a review and share it with your friend. It's the fastest way that we can grow the show.

[00:41:25] Tiffany Sauder: Thanks for joining us. I'll see you next time.