Want to make the most of your summer this year? Make a summer hope-to list with me to set fun, low-pressure goals for this season!
I love the idea of a seasonal bucket list. In fact, I make them pretty often. Something about summer in this current season of life, though, has me reluctant to commit to a whole list of things I expect to do. Perhaps its because I have a 6-year-old and a 4-year-old, a job, a husband, and too many to-do lists in my life to count. So, when I heard that my guru, Kendra Adachi, The Lazy Genius herself, had reframed the bucket list as a hope-to list, I knew she was onto something.
A summer hope-to list is the perfect way to identify your aspirations for the season without all the pressure of traditional goal setting. Putting together a hope-to list lets you brainstorm and prioritize your summer activities and then acts as a guide to making the most of your summer. Even my Type-A heart is excited about this!
To get us started, I’ll first go through some tips that I think you should keep in mind as you make your summer hope-to list. Then, I’ll share my summer hope-to list. It might give you some inspiration!
Summer Hope-To List
Tips
If you want to have the biggest shot at making a successful summer hope-to list, you should keep a few guidelines in mind.
Categories
My brain likes order, so I highly recommend that any list be separated into categories. Setting categories not only helps you fill out your summer hope-to list, it also should help you complete it (or at least keep track of it). You can use whatever categories work best with what you’re hoping to accomplish this summer. Some category ideas include: Home, Activities, Trips, Kids, Self, and Food.
Specificity
A summer hope-to list is essentially a way to set goals. Like all goals, your summer hope-to list items should be specific if you want to give yourself the best shot you can to achieve them. Now, I’m not suggesting that you need to have precise dates and times attached to each item or even have each item 100% flushed out before you put it on your summer hope-to list. But your list items should be specific enough to actually get them done. If not during the summer, then some other time.
Sufficient specificity should include who is involved in each summer hope-to list item. If you don’t know who is involved, it’s going to be pretty hard to plan anything!
Manageable
I know you’re excited about summer and all the fun (and not-so-fun) things you want to do, but please don’t get carried away. Keep your summer hope-to list manageable! There isn’t a magic number of items you should include, but you’ll know it’s manageable when you see it. You should also spread your items out in terms of their level of effort. Have some big, exciting things on your list, sure, but also include some quick and easy ones too.
Memorialize
Write your summer hope-to list down! You can make a fancy poster or just a list on a simple notepad. I’m making this blog post!
My Summer Hope-To List
If you still have no idea where to start making your summer hope-to list, I hope you’ll get some inspiration from my list. Some of these are very specific to my family, where I live, or my personality, but I’m hoping they are still helpful!
Home
I want to do a few things around the house this summer. We are (allegedly) getting our patio redone this summer, so that will be the big home project, but I have a few smaller things I’d like to do inside too. I’m sure you have a few home projects you’d like to accomplish this summer too – throw them on your summer hope-to list!
Son’s room
We moved into our house when my son was 18 months old, so we did up his room with cute elephant décor, centered around carved elephants my husband brought back from Rwanda when I was pregnant. The room is cute, but my son is now 6, and not into elephants. He’s into sports. This summer, I want to give him the kid room of his dreams. New paint, all the sports things for the walls, and maybe even a new set-up once we get all of the toys and clothes out of there that no longer serve him.
Basement bathroom
Two summers ago, we renovated our basement to add a full bathroom down there. It’s one of the best things we ever did. Except for the color. We thought we would do everything white because it’s a basement bathroom without a window. In theory, it works, but in practice, it needs something. So, I’m adding painting an accent wall in the basement bathroom to my summer hope-to list. I have no idea where to start with a color, so I’d love your recommendations!
Wardrobe purge
I am almost 40 years old and four years out of postpartum. My closet is a hot mess. It is a jumble of clothes from pre-kids, postpartum, and stuff I buy on a whim while I’m grocery shopping. This does not result in a cohesive wardrobe of stuff I’m excited to wear. Before I turn 40, I want to take my closet back! The first step in this process is to take everything out of my closet, try everything on, and be brutally honest with myself. Only the good stuff should remain. Then, I’ll go out and shop knowing the holes I need to fill. This is going to feel really good to do, I just know it!
Updated photos
I suck at updating the framed photos in my house. We get pictures taken pretty regularly, but they just live on the computer for ages before I get around to actually printing them. My husband hates this trait of mine. (Sorry, Paul!) So, for my darling husband, I’m adding printing updated photos for the home to my summer hope-to list. This should be easy – I don’t know why I have such a block about this!
Social
I’m really trying to be more social lately. After working from home for 10 years, a freaking pandemic, and two kids, I had basically become a hermit. It worked for a while because I’m pretty introverted, but I’ve realized I need social interaction, at least some of it. To force myself to be social, I’m adding a few items to my summer hope-to list. You should add some to yours too!
Host friends
I spent a whole entire post peer pressuring you to have get-togethers this summer, and I’ve peer pressured myself too. I’m currently trying to pin down a date or three (hasn’t happened yet because schedules, yes even in the summer!), but I have lots of ideas swirling around. It doesn’t have to be stressful – just throw some burgers and dogs on the grill, open a few bags of chips, and call it a day! It’s about the fellowship, y’all.
Mom night out
My sister-in-law and I have been talking about having a night out with just the moms for months now. Unfortunately, we haven’t made it happen for reasons beyond our control. But I’m going to force it this summer. Or at least put it on my summer hope-to list so it has more of a chance of staying in the front of my mind. Moms need a night out, so we’re going to make it happen.
Monthly date night
My husband and I kinda suck at scheduling date nights. We have good intentions, but our follow-through needs work. This year, I want to have a date night with my husband once a month. Can we swing it? Unclear. But it’s worth a try! It’s going on the summer hope-to list!
Kids
Of course, I have a few kid-specific things on my summer hope-to list. This isn’t to say that they won’t do the other things on the list too, these are just the kid-centered ones.
One-on-one days
Like most families with multiple children, it’s hard to get one-on-one time with each kid. I think it’s super important, though, so I’m adding one-on-one days with each kid to my summer hope-to list. What this looks like is still up in the air, but it will be a day with either mom or dad and only one kid centered around what that kid likes to do.
Passports
My husband and I keep current passports, but we haven’t gotten passports for our kids yet. We don’t have any trips abroad on the books, but thoughts are circulating, so we want to get them passports so we can pull the trigger on one or more of our ideas. We need to find a day when my husband isn’t working, I’m not working, and we can take the kids out of camp to go to the post office and just do the dang thing.
Food
I love food, so it should come as no surprise that I have an entire food category on my summer hope-to list. Just a few things to prioritize in the food space this summer!
New restaurant
I don’t know about you, but we are stuck in a rut when it comes to restaurants. We don’t go out to eat much, but when we do it’s to the same few places. I want to break out of this cycle this summer and try at least one new restaurant. The bar is low – can we pull it off?
Milkshake
When my husband first brought me to Pittsburgh oh so many years ago, we stopped at an ice cream place called Page’s Dairy one evening. I was full from dinner (or so I thought), so I didn’t get anything. My then-boyfriend got a milkshake and made me try a sip. I then proceeded to drink almost the whole thing because it was just that good. Now that we live in Pittsburgh, it can sometimes be hard to prioritize getting that deliciousness because it’s just a bit out of the way. But nope, we are getting a milkshake from Page’s this summer! I need one!
Make ice cream
I usually aspire to make homemade ice cream in the summer. We have an ice cream maker attachment for our Kitchen Aid mixer and I’ve also had good success with some no-churn ice cream recipes (this ricotta ice cream was to-die-for!). Whichever way we choose to make ice cream doesn’t matter, I just want to get the kids in the kitchen and make it this summer!
Activities
What’s summer without some fun activities? Summer will naturally include all sorts of activities, but I encourage you to put a few activities on your summer hope-to list that you might not organically do without identifying them early on.
Laurel Caverns
I’m so excited for weekend activities this summer because it’s the first summer we don’t have to deal with naps. It’s a whole new world! We can do day trips! The top day trip on my summer hope-to list this year is a trip to Laurel Caverns, a brand new underground Pennsylvania state park that’s an hour or so from Pittsburgh. I’ve wanted to explore the caverns for years, but we always had a kid who wasn’t big enough. Now that everyone can handle themselves underground, we’re going!
July 4th parade
We have been going to a local parade on the 4th of July for many years. The kids look forward to it every year, and it’s a great way to pass Independence Day morning. Because going to the parade has become such a cherished tradition, it’s got to go on the summer hope-to list.
Vacation
We are going to San Diego, California for our big summer vacation this year. Three of the four of us haven’t been before, so we’re all excited. We each picked our #1 priority and added a few other activities to do while we are there. Of course, I’ll do a detailed trip report when we get back, so stay tuned if you’re interested in things to do with kids in San Diego!
Self
I urge you to add at least one thing for yourself to your summer hope-to list. If you can have two, that’s even better! Just don’t forget that mom should have a good summer too!
Exercise routine
I have really gotten out of my exercise rhythm. My summer goal isn’t to lose any weight or drop any pants sizes. Instead, I just want to establish an exercise routine again. My plan is to start by taking more walks and then build up from there. Maybe throw in some yoga or a HIIT session every once in a while to remind myself that I actually do feel better when I take the time to exercise. Importantly, I’m going to track my exercise so I can stay accountable and see what I’m doing and how it affects my mood, energy level, appetite, etc. This sounds easy, but I know it’s going to be harder than it seems.
Other posts
Looking for more inspiration for how to make the most of your summer? These posts might be helpful:
Now that I’ve shared my summer hope-to list and tips you can use to make yours, tell me – what’s on your summer hope-to list? Let me know down below or over on Instagram @sarainseason!