How to Beat The Summer Heat

It’s that time of year again. SUMMER! Swimming pools, outdoor fun, and higher temperatures. It gets pretty hot here in central Texas and also in our house which doesn’t have particularly good air conditioning (like 90 degrees inside sometimes!)

Last year we devised a way to make it through the hot afternoons, and it seems it’s time to switch back to the same summer schedule as before.

1.) First off, we need to do the bulk of our chores in the morning, before it gets so hot that we don’t want to lift a finger. We can do school after that since that mainly involves a lot of sitting.

2.) Secondly, we switch the bath times from before bed to mid-afternoon. Once the day hits its hottest point, the children can take turns, taking long leisurely cool baths. This not only serves to cool each child down, but gives them a little alone time during what could be our crankiest part of the day. Throw in some bath toys so they hang out in there longer. ; ) Also, you get to put on a nice, clean (non-sweaty) outfit and everyone looks cleaner and less frazzled when daddy gets home for dinner.

3.) If you or your child gets so sweaty that your discomfort is interfering with your day – go ahead and change! I know this makes more laundry, and it’s hard for me to do because of that.. but what’s the good of saving a little bit of laundry if you’re going to be crankier and less effective because of it?

4.) Buy lots of cheap popsicles (or make your own) and eat them frequently! That’s not hard to do, right? It’s not uncommon for my children to have multiple popsicles a day during the worst part of summer. It really does help to cool you down.

5.) Cook out on the grill as much as possible! I mean, there’s no need to add EXTRA heat right? Especially since my kitchen faces west which means that side of the house has direct sunlight when it’s time to make supper. Ew. Seriously, if I ever build a house the majority of the house & windows will face north and south!

6.) Take a break and finish later. When mid-afternoon hits, we stop and take it easy. Okay, okay…maybe that doesn’t fit the “busy momma” definition.. but in this case I make exceptions. We rest (and take our baths and eat our popsicles) and watch a movie together or some other activity until time to start on supper. After getting the kids in bed, the house will have cooled back down again. At that point I can finish cleaning up in the kitchen and picking up elsewhere so that we don’t start the next day with a messy house. That takes some self-discipline, since I want to rest after the kids go to bed, but if I don’t want to do it throughout the afternoon then I need to make it happen later.

So those are my tips for beating the summer heat indoors. Got any other good ones? Go ahead and share!

Photo Credit: Some rights reserved by rcbodden