TiP fOr TuEsDaY (post 294)

 

Summer is sizzling! Thank goodness we're on the home stretch....

Ugh, this has been the longest summer ever...or at least it has to me. After over a year of unemployment, I got a job right at the end of the school year and this has elongated it somehow. In years past the kids would have spent the majority of the summer chillin' at the daycare. Wait?! Daycare is good? My kids had the opportunity when they were younger to go one of the best daycares I think I've ever seen. During the summer they went swimming twice a week, went to the park, went to the museums, went bowling, went to the library, and they looked forward to it every year. The ladies that run it are all grandmas and love the kids and the kids love them. But, that was before my kids got bigger.
This year the kids have spent the summer at home, together, bickering incessantly and driving Mom insane. 2 weeks to go until school starts, 2 weeks to go until Mom can stop pulling out her hair! My daughter should be well acquainted with her bedroom (especially today) because she lacks the ability respect anything of her brother's. I can only keep them occupied so long and I've spent a lot of time at work these last few weeks (that and just because I'm working, it doesn't mean we're any less poor this year) and we have a recipe for disaster. So, what has (and hasn't) worked?:

Schedules.
I have a work schedule, why shouldn't the kids? They get up and have breakfast and then they play games for a little while or do quiet activities. Lunch and then clean up after themselves and do chores. I let them watch Netflix (we turned off the cable) and when I'm home we do something fun (such as a craft or play a game or make something in the kitchen or go to the dollar store). After dinner when it cools off a bit they ride their bikes to the playground or we all watch a movie together. When there is a little more money to go around, we go to the local pool or get dinner at McD's or Del Taco, or go and see a movie in the theater.

Separation.
It doesn't matter how many time I tell them that you can't expect someone to be nice to you unless you are also nice in return, they still fight. Ugh, and the only way to get it to stop (and to maintain my sanity) is to separate the offenders. Luckily, the two that usually fight have separate bedrooms and I can order them to their respective "corners" and shut the door. This works usually, but sometimes Mommy love needs to take effect and we...

Distract and deflect.
I know that they spend a lot of time together and Mom has to work and sometimes taking one and spending a little one-on-one Mommy time is the trick. My daughter and I make some jewelery together or cook a treat and I read comics and play games with the boys. I always take just one of them to run errands with me and this way I can talk to them one-on-one and it isn't at all formal and I make sure I really listen to them.

Let go.
I like to get the things that NEED to be done before I do the things I WANT to do, but sometimes you just need to let go. Forgo to chores for an afternoon and take the kids for a drive or if I'm super stressed I institute a mandatory "nap time". I'll take about a half and hour and insist that the kids stay in their rooms and stay quiet (and read or draw quietly) and just close my eyes and let it go. The kids learn to respect my time and appreciate a little silence and Mom is refreshed and ready to tackle stuff again afterwords. Have popcorn for dinner sometimes too. This is one of our favorites, we'll pop a huge bowl of air-popped popcorn and pick out a movie and spend the evening together. End the night with some ice cream and I love it! ;0)

2 weeks to getting up early for school, 2 weeks to go till homework and friends take over their lives again, and 2 weeks to go until Mom can clean the house and it'll stay clean for a little while! Of course, Moms all know this is true heaven! ;0D