Summertime Blues?

I've noticed that our kids have been more rebellious and a little more rowdy than usual, and when it comes to the 4 year old, even a little more is too much rowdy. So I took some time to observe, and I discovered the problem right away! It's our routine!

This summer has been one of changes and moves, and the first summer our 4 year old has been 'off school'. And with all of the changes and last minute plans, we've let all of our routines go. All of us.

So I've decided to take some time and help re-create a schedule. Gone are the morning cartoons that seem to last ALL morning (our son recently discovered that Cartoon Network has cartoons all day and THAT is NOT going to happen.)

We're back to breakfast at the table, writing/reading fun, snack and a cartoon or two, lunch then a book (and hopefully a nap), snack and reading time, then PBS kids because the boy loves CyberChase. Not to mention outside every minute he's not doing all those things, playing with the big kids, flirting with the girls, helping with the garden and playing with Daddy, and our several times a week walk to the park.

Everyone needs routine in their lives. At least the everyones living in our house. Without it we become complacent, irritable, and lost in a sea of 'stuff' that finds itself here every day. So it isn't just our little one, it's me. Shiny sink before bed (Thank you FlyLady!), work during naptime, and getting the rest of us (and our stuff) back to 15 minutes from clean. It's our living standard. It's rarely 100% clean, but 99.9 + 45 minutes clean works for me.

If things have started to come unglued, take a look around. Are your routines in place? Is there something you've left out? Take a moment to organize for even 15 minutes. Then take the rest of that hour for you.

Priorities, Kid Style

I write from home, and today I promised myself a bit of a break. As soon as my son heard, he begged me to watch the Scooby-Doo specials on Cartoon Network. The joy he adds when he says "Cartoon Network" shows that we haven't had cable television for long. Since I am an infamous multi-tasker, I planned to make up the 'coins' we're going to use as screen-time currency. My son does not approve. He's actually excited about the coins, as he gets to paint them. He just doesn't want it done during 'our' Scooby-Doo together time.

I'm off during a break from the marathon (how many hours of Scooby-Doo can one mom take?), and wanted to share the idea.

Every coin will be worth 1/2 hour of screen time. We'll all have 6 coins, to be used throughout the day. More coins can be added (for Scooby-Doo marathons, and such), but each half-hour watched equals 1 cardboard-cut-out coin in the jug.

Work, school, and family-time movies (which aren't often) are the only exceptions.

My job is to cut out the coins. Then our youngest will paint them, and I'll help him write the 1/2 hour, and he'll put everyone's initial on their coins, plush w for earned coins.

I'll post any progress.

I hope to hear from some parents about what they do to moniter and keep control of the television addictions that summer leads to.

Kim

The Games Listed

The games listed here are some of the games our son plays. He's very adept at the computer, and working with the mouse has been very good for his small motor coordination. The list may change or grow, but here's a good start.

A few may have music you want to keep turned down, but a lot of the sites are very intuitional, and Our 4 year old can do them on his own. He really is proud to show me what he's learned to do, so some of the time I sit with him, other times I'll be working.

These games are a life saver if you're a working mom with a second computer. There are times I'll use our old laptop so he can be online and learning, too occupied with what he's doing to notice I'm making my phone calls.