A Very Low-Key Summer Checklist

What is on your summer verification list? Here are 10 discreet things that I am thinking of doing (and I would love to hear yours) …

1. Incline yourself in the drinks in point. When visiting our relatives in England, we always gathered for ‘Drinks in Punto’ at 6 pm with friends, neighbors and any other person who passes. Back in Brooklyn, my children and I often headed to our exhaustion at that time, as a way of spending the working day to summer night. These days, we like to drink Sprite and Lingonberry, but even foamy water makes the trick.

2. I lie on the couch and read magazines With the fan ignition. Especially short stories from New Yorker, which are fun, moving and spoooooky.

3. Play the letters outside. Our beloved COJ collaborator, Alex Ronan, has played the Spite & Malice card game with his girlfriend Infinity Times, he told me. “I cannot express how many rounds we have played on trips, in bars or on Sundays in the morning with coffee, but I don’t think I get tired of it. The cadence of each game feels different. It is the perfect game of two players.” Tonight, Freddie and I are knowing Alex and Grace to learn the game, we will inform.

4. Take photos of your friends with your children. Up is my friend Claire with her daughter in the Toby baseball game. Moms in the photos, always and forever 🙂

5. Look at a 90’s movie. We love watching 90s films on trips. They are fun and familiar so you can chat and eat snacks while looking. A few to begin with: the talented Mr. Ripley, Clueless, Fargo, Boyz N The Hood, The Firm, The Fugitive and Goodfellas.

6. Eat fries of a cup. This is the brilliant idea of ​​my brother, so the people around him will not steal your chips. Otherwise, furtive hands come from all directions.

7. Write an acrostic poem for a loved one. Okay, this may sound randomly, but listen to me, haha. My friend Liz once wrote us acrostics when we went to dinner, and I have never forgotten how beautiful she felt. Such a simple and personal gesture. I wrote one this year for Freddie’s birthday, and it was also fun to include internal jokes and nicknames. They are supposed to be perfect, only sincere 🙂

8. See some art in real lifeIf you feel so moved, like Amy Sherald in Whitney (which comes to DC in September) or in the Minneapolis sculpture garden. The colors are going well.

9. Give yourself a whim with some soft serviceas vanilla-chocolate turn.

10. Stay inside and don’t feel bad about that. As an anxious person who cannot always turn off his brain, this is my favorite. My friend Sharon uses the term “days of recovery”, where everyone in the family needs a break, so you stay inside and do nothing at all. Maybe eat a cereal bowl? Do you take a cold shower and see how many hard seconds? Just do not do anything productive because that is against the rules.

What is on your list for the summer? I would love to listen. And here is the best parenting advice I have received.

Discrete Summer Verification Psychists of 2019, 2022 and 2023. They all hold!