This weekend marks the first official weekend of summer break for county schools. So now what?

Maybe you’re one of those parents who can’t stop smiling now that your kids will be home 24/7, or maybe you’ve noticed 10 new gray hairs in the few days since your kids have been on break. Maybe you fall somewhere in between. In any case, from now until mid-August, it’s "No more pencils, no more books," ... no more kids in school for the majority of the day.

And no more schedule to keep families moving forward.

So rather than have your family become nocturnal by summer week numero dos, here are some ideas to get your family moving through the summer smiling, shining, growing and enjoying time together:

• Stay on a schedule. It doesn’t have to be the "up at 7, out by 8:15 a.m." schedule—it is summer after all, so let’s enjoy a little R & R. But it shouldn’t be to bed at midnight and up at noon. No way. Especially if your kids are still in elementary school. Kids need healthy consistency and they need sleep. Even if it means that everyone’s up at 9 or 9:30, get them up. Have breakfast. And if you don’t have camp or swim team to get your bodies out of the house, then go on a family walk or bike ride. Get the troops moving. Come back and have a snack and go from there.
• Make a summer fun list. Start the summer by brainstorming all of the things you and your family want to do in the quickly-moving school-free months. Put them on a poster or on index cards and cross them off each time you do one. Remember to add simple summertime musts like catching lightning bugs and eating s’mores as well as more involved ones like taking a day trip or picking blueberries.
• Make learning fun. Even if you’re not a teacher, you’re one for your kids whether you like it or not. Summertime gives all parents an opportunity to really show their kids what they’ve got. Bring topics to life that interest your kids. Read books in your treehouse. Build a tree house. If you need some inspiration, join the Smart Summer Challenge that I’m facilitating with two other cool teacher-mom bloggers. We’re challenging every parent to help their kids avoid the summer learning slump by sneaking in some fun learning every day. Or as often as possible. And if ideas are the problem, no worries. We’ve created a calendar packed with ideas and it will be available on all of our sites on June 27. With prizes for participants. Great prizes. Join us!
• Do something. Get out of the house. At least more often than not, get yourself and your kids out of the house. Whether it’s wandering through the mall or library or town center, being out is good. And in the summer, there’s always so much going on no matter where you are.
• Do nothing. Yes. Nothing. Some days, do nothing. Don’t go anywhere. Let your kids say, "I’m booooorrrreeeed." And when they do, just smile at them and reply with a "Hi, Bored. I’m Mommy," or a "Really? What a shame. Only boring people get bored," or even a "Hooray! Congratulations! It’s such great feeling to experience once in a while. Enjoy it!" Your response depends on your mood, of course, but all kids should experience boredom once in a while. Especially in the summer.

These ideas are just a start, some basics that must be catered to each individual family. And sure, they're a bit contradictory. But isn't that summer for you? For some, summer means tons of camps and activities. For others it means long and lazy days by the pool. For others yet it means travel, work and lots of extended family. Summer means something different for everyone, and that's the beauty of it.

Stay tuned for some summertime sanity savers, cool local day trips in and around our area, our favorite kid-friendly reasons for hanging in Rockville Town Center and rainy-day tricks to keep in your back pocket.