The Summer Struggle

Guest Post – Jason Lacsamana – Director, Programs and Partnerships

Not every family is an “all hands on deck” family. Some families have two parents working full time or beyond full time. A staggering number of families in the United States (23%) have only one parent at home. As hard as it is during the school year to get kids to school, sports, and other activities, summer feels even more brutal.

 

My wife, Jasmine, and I are privileged professionals. We work from home for understanding organizations in flexible environments. We don’t have a nanny and can’t rely on familial support like some of our peers, but our colleagues are empathetic if we must reschedule a meeting to get one of our kids to summer camp or if another is home sick. Jasmine and I do our best to coordinate the shorter summer days around our respective work schedules, but it’s about this time every year when we are ready for school to start – soon.

 

Although many of us experience the quiet struggle between providing a fun, memorable summer and being productive team players at the office, our work at the Fund offers another perspective. Nearly 30 million kids nationwide rely on free or reduced-cost meals at school. So, while we struggle to find balance, millions of parents struggle to feed their kids.

 

All of this is to say that there will always be people with more opportunities or challenges than you. I speak on the effort to find balance a lot. However, it’s unrealistic to seek balance all the time. Somedays, it’s simply about prioritizing and asking yourself, your partner (if you have one), and your kids, “What’s most important today?”

 

How are you getting by this summer? Has it been relatively relaxing? Or are you counting down the weeks to longer days at school? I created a poll on LinkedIn, and I’m curious to know how it’s going for you.