Lorin and Venice are up real early on school days. By 6:30 am they are dressed, fed and prepped for their daily classes. Such is rhe regular routine of most kids, my Keoni included. Out of the house by 7 am, and for bigger kids out of the house for the most part of the day. But what about when it\s summer vacation? What is the scenario in our households?

"Mommy, I'm bored!" says Keoni after he's had breakfast, watched TV, played with Kato (the stray cat Grandpa rescued and Keoni so loves), his Transformers and Hot Wheels and whatever else he could find. On another camp, Lorin and Venice have exhausted the DVD player as Dora and Diego have gone on trips all around the world for the umpteenth time! In a few minutes their cute little selves start to wander and restlessness comes to play.

School has been out only a few weeks, but the kids can’t seem to adjust to having the ‘nothing to do’ that they were anticipating. I’m sure they’ll get into the swing of summer soon, but in the meantime, we need to find them some activities they can do while we work or they'll eat up on our nerves! hahaha! My six-year-old loves gadgets and sports so for my Keoni, I opted to enroll him in swimming and computer classes. For someone like Lorin who enjoys arts and crafts, I have a few things I’ve hunted down--- some pretty easy projects for her. For someone inclined towards another form of Art -- the theater, Venice is perfect to go to something like a "Children’s Theare Workshop" something that Trumpets has to offer. And of course there’s cooking and baking classes at Sylvia Reynoso or sculpting and painting at the Assumption but as I browsed around the net I found some pretty lucrative things for our kids to do and boy, did I find them too!

· Lanyard Crafts - you could use hemp or rope, rubber or plastic cords or lace. Go to www.makefriends.com Its where you may find "Cool crafts for Kool Kids" and have your kids do lanyard crafts like decorating a the water bottle they use for their games and sports, They may choose the sporty beads and the colors to customize their water bottle holder. You may also make a key ring using the hemp and deck it with either red, white and blue to show patriotic colors or use neon colored hemp by dying it then add beads or metal rings or balls. And there’s cellphone holders. pouch bags you can attach to a lanyard so you could take your phones and valuables with you anywhere while at the beach!

· Computer Time - many summer programs for kids have computer time. Kids may be on several computers at the same time, or they may share one or two computers. If you are responsible for group computer time as a parent volunteer or worker in a summer program, you need a structured but fun plan for kids to get the most from summer computer play. You may enroll them in something that has an eight-week plan/ This starts with some typing and mouse practice, then moves into exploring "My Favorites...", a few fun learning games, creative correspondence, exploring the arts, and making a book. Each lesson includes online fun and a printable activity for extending the play offline.

· Summer Camps/Workshops - there's all sorts; theater which includes singing and dancing, arts and crafts, cooking and baking, piano or guitar, martial arts, you name it! But one particular one that would not only be good for their social development but their spiritual development as well are the retreats or summer camps the churches offer/ Keoni and some friends are going to "Trading Places" summer camp at the Victory Church at the Fort at the end of May.

And the list could go further on, but I will let you in on a secret. The besr way to make summer vacation living easy for all of us working parents is to ask your child what she or he wants to do. Of course along the lines of decency, proximity and of course affordability, make it possible for your kids to do something he or she likes and not impose on what you want them to do. In so doing, they will have an enjoyable summer and more importantly for us working parents - they’ll stay out of our hair! hahahha. Enjoy the summer!