When I look back at my summers as a kid, I remember all the fun memories of late nights and early mornings spent playing with my brother, sisters and cousins. When I think of summer as a parent, all I think of are the exhaustion-filled late nights and early mornings spent cleaning up after my brood and planning for the next day's activities. The notion of summer does not carry the same meaning, even when we're living in the same house, engaging in the same activities. But does it have to be this way?

Kid summer: fun, care-free. Parent summer: tired, stress-full.

A couple of weeks back, as I was feeling overwhelmed with the craziness of my four kids, especially my infinitely curious 20-month old, I was not seeing any of the fun Summer is supposed to bring. So I decided to do a small experiment to help me get a different perspective on my lot in life. For a few days I strapped my GoPro camera to my kids to get a feel for what their day was like, and it was truly eye opening for me. Here's what I learned about making this a great summer together:

• My house is busy. Most of the footage was taken while I was doing something else, and seeing all that goes on in my house while I’m busy myself was a reminder that there is a lot going on at all times. There is never a dull moment and chaos is the new normal. To expect anything else is just plain silly.
• I need to smile a whole lot more. I didn’t realize how serious I look all the time. And it doesn’t help that I’m constantly taking things away from the baby, telling her not to do something or correcting the boys about their behavior. No wonder Daddy’s the favorite! As a result, I decided to smile like I'm competing for Miss Universe, which has confused the boys a bit. ("Why are you looking at me like that?") But I am determined to be more pleasant!
• I finally know why my house is always a mess. There are tiny creatures undoing all my work! It was crazy to see these children of mine just pick up a piece of paper, a toy (or a coconut), take five steps, drop it right there on the floor and keep going on their merry way.
• My kids are cool. Seeing how they play together or on their own reminded me that playing is learning at their age. And that's all they really want to do: play and explore, sometimes with me, sometimes with their siblings, and sometimes by themselves.

Here's a short video I made to remind myself to look at our days through my kids' eyes, especially on those difficult days, and enjoy the view from below. It truly is worth it.