Summer is moving fast and before you know it we will be facing the new school year. It is time to take stock of your summer and what it is doing for your teens.

If summertime has been boring or difficult for your kids, school time could be even worse. Kids need to have a relaxation on the schedule and expectations in the summer. They need to still obey rules and abide by limitations you have set, but the summer structure should be more relaxed.

When you go on vacation you probably change your mealtimes. Sometimes you eat off schedule or not at all. You may stay up later or remain in bed in the morning way past the time you usually arise. This newfound freedom tends to refresh you and relive stress. Teens need to also have a break from the norm as they have vacation form their job (school.)

Fill your teens summer months with fun and new learning experiences. A break in schedule and the sameness regain your days for all of you may allow this. All too soon, you will once again be slave to the calendar and clock as school activities rule your family's world.

Your teen may also enjoy a break form the routine in meals. This is the season to pack a lunch and head for the park or the beach. This is the perfect time of year to have a strawberry shortcake supper. Sweltering weather could let you decide huge banana splits really do have the four major food groups. A break from normalcy may be just the thing to open up communication.

Celebrate summer and experiment with any idea that refreshes your spirit, restores your vitality, and titillates your imagination. Make summer memories for a teen who seen will return to school day rigidity.

Credits: Jo Ann Wentzel