Shoreline CT Parents: Make the most of your child’s summer

By General Education Advice

As July 4th weekend ends, many parents realize that the delight of having their children home for the summer is mitigated by the challenges of having them home for the summer!

As a transplant to the Connecticut shoreline, I have some observations that might help my fellow parents.

The affluent, idyllic, beach-based life of those living in the Branford-Stonington area makes for an amazing backdrop to childhood and teen years.

Those same positive qualities have a shadow effect of decreasing motivational drive.

I’m all for balance.   But I can say with certainty that our clients who live closer to New York make their children’s lives far more productive than what I see in Southeastern, CT.  Of course, those folks might tilt the balance too far in terms of achievement drive.   They, however, are your children’s competition as they head to college and into the workforce.

“It’s summer.”  That’s the common “child-like” pushback from children.  But for parents to say the same is not optimal.   Most students from Guilford, Madison, Old Saybrook, Essex, Old Lyme,  East Lyme etc.  ended the school year in mid-June.

Presumably, most have done nothing productive since then.  That’s nearly a month of complete hedonistic activity that in addition to the beach (good thing) includes endless hours of video games, social media,  diversionary YouTube watching and so forth.

The interesting thing is that such non-productivity also leads to boredom and unhappiness.  You are not doing your children any favors by letting them drift from one non-productive activity to another.

Your children won’t plan to be productive this summer.  You need to do so.