Hi Reader,

Do you remember the way summer felt when you were a kid?

The screen door banging behind you. Grass that needed cutting and nobody in a hurry to cut it. A popsicle melting faster than you could eat it. That feeling that the day went on and on — and so did the next one, and the next — like summer would never actually end.

Somewhere along the way, summer quietly became another season to manage. Camps to coordinate. A calendar that fills itself. The vague guilt that we should be doing more, making more memories, keeping everyone busy and enriched and on track.

But here's what's been sitting on my heart lately, and it's the whole reason I made the little reel I'm sharing with you today:

What if we lived this summer like it's our summer vacation from school?

Not the grown-up version where we squeeze rest into the margins — but the real thing. The endless kind. Where some days have absolutely nothing on them and that's the point.

Where the most productive thing you do is lie in the grass and watch Poppy try to herd a butterfly. (Indy, for the record, supervises from the shade. She's strictly management.)

​🎥 Watch the reel here → Endless summer 🍉​

I'm not saying throw out all your plans. I'm saying — give yourself permission to leave room in them. A slow summer doesn't happen by accident. For most of us it has to be chosen, on purpose, the same way we choose anything that matters.

So here are three small ways to bring back that endless-summer feeling, starting this week:

1. Keep one day a week completely empty. No errands, no agenda. Protect it like an appointment, because it is one.

2. Say yes to the small thing. The extra popsicle. The later bedtime. The spontaneous "let's go get ice cream." These are the memories that stick — not the elaborate ones.

3. Pick one tiny ritual and repeat it. Morning coffee or breakfast on the porch. Friday night fireflies. Reading time in the shade of the tree in the front yard. Repetition is what made childhood summers feel infinite, and it still works.

If you want a little help holding onto all of it, that's exactly why I created the Home Sweet Summer magazine.

It's 66 pages of everything that makes a slow summer feel intentional instead of accidental — seasonal rhythms, simple recipes, gentle homemaking ideas, and pages designed to be sat with, coffee in hand, screen door open. It's the kind of thing you keep coming back to all season long.

​→ Get the digital magazine for $11 — yours instantly​

And when you grab it, you'll have the chance to add The Slow Summer Companion — a printable packet of seasonal fun things to make these long days of summer even more memorable. It's just $8.25 added at checkout, and it's the piece that ties the whole season together.

→ Or get the subscription for 4 quarterly magazines, one for each season for $60/year — each released at the start of the season

Whatever you choose, I hope you choose slow this summer. I really do.

And if your kiddos love school as much as I did growing up, I highly recommend checking out IXL for some very enjoyable activities to try out this special summer season. I personally love the topics in the 6th grade social studies and the 3rd grade science — these can be used for really fun activities, games, and conversations!

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