A friend asked the other day what kinds of things I do with my kids – especially when Dad is gone often in this season. Please know that the following list was slightly out of desperation. These are not things we always do and are therefore awesome:
1. Somehow we got a Secret Decoder Pen along the way. So we write and “crack” codes.
2. Paint nails (yes, their toe nails. And they love watching me paint mine)
3. Make bracelets (yes, they like the small rubber band kinds)
4. Paint our faces (here is where they redeem their boyness – they ask for things like Transformers)
5. Cut out pictures in magazines and paste to make collages
6. Look up cheap science experiments online
7. Make a “picture album” with extra copies of older photos in a notebook (are we the only people who have a jillion notebooks lying around?)
8. Make a canvas painting (Still want to do this from Pinterest)
9. Go through Hope Chest in guest bedroom and clear it out. That includes narrowing down art projects and birthday cards saved and every school paper ever done and throwing some away. (Clutter can stress me out and I’m not super sentimental about every project. If we have a couple from each year, I’m good. They loved doing this, by the way. They reminisced and compared paintings and looked through pictures and cards.)
10. Gather up all the stuffed animals and let them go to town (this usually involves acting out a war scene of some sort)
11. Actually use the chalkboard easel and draw with chalk
12. Our neighbor ladies are into rocks/geodes. We have cheap magnifying glasses and can look at all the sparkles and crevices in the rocks they gave us, then record observations a la Sid the Science Kid
13. Make our own battle box game like in a restaurant activity menu
14. Good old fashioned coloring books – we have some good talks while trying to stay in the lines
15. Old Standby: Set a blanket on the floor with a snack and read a book out loud!
This all leads into what I call “The 5 Minute Rule.” If I start out doing one of these projects for the first few minutes with them, they usually are cool if I then get up and fold some laundry or wash dishes or prep dinner or whatever. Not that I wouldn’t work even if they weren’t “cool” with it (because Moms have jobs to do, too) but it’s nice to not hear fussing.
(And if you’re a homeschool mom you probably feel like this is Parenting 101 here. But, hey, gotta pass on what works for us! And you’re still my hero.)
Another thing you might already do: Rotate your kids’ toys and crafts and books. Every few months get out some new stuff and it’s like Christmas!
For this month, starting the day without media wasn’t too bad at their ages. Set a few things out, remind them of the rule, plan ahead to have breakfast first, or just listen to a bit of whining if you don’t get any of those things done. After several days they were used to it and stopped asking first thing. Just like anything else.
And, finally, Caden’s most-oft quote of the month: “I can’t wait until December.”
You can’t win em all, friends.