For the first time in my kids' lives, I will be home with them all summer.
Take a moment and pray for me.
Moving on. I will have to entertain, feed, and teach two children all summer long. Terrified is probably an overstatement. I'm not sure I am made to be a stay-at-home-mom, but circumstance has me here, facing the summer. Of course, I feel compelled to make a plan. You know I'm not actually going to follow the plan, right? But my kid demands to know what we are doing, so here goes nothing.
First, I plan to have a schedule of leaving the house. We might switch up the days a bit, but here's what I am thinking:
Sat - Groc Day (I've been doing groceries on weekdays with Loki, but with Alan back at home to watch the kids on the weekend, I'm thinking we are going to move to Saturday/Sunday for groceries).
Sun - Church (Yes, we are really going to try to go to some service every Sunday.)
Mon - Arts/Craft Day (I figure I'll do most of the cooking for the week, something in the crockpot and something on the stove, plus cutting fruits and veggies and freezing leftovers, on Mondays, so it's the day we stay at home. We can make something or color or build with blocks, but it will be an organized activity.)
Tues - Book Day (We either do a library trip or bookstore, rotating every other week.)
Wed - Water Day (We swim at my aunt's pool, do the local splash park, or setting up water painting in the back yard.)
Thurs - Field Trip Day (We go to the zoo or the Louisiana Arts and Science Museum or to tour LSU. Anything, really, that advances the kids' knowledge.)
Fri - Free Day (The kids get to laze around the house and do whatever. No school, no chores, just a totally free day. That's important, too, right? It'll also give me a chance to catch up on whatever I need to in the house.)
I'm thinking that, everyday, we will try to eat breakfast, then do the day's activity. We will aim to be home for lunchtime. After lunch, chores and then a quick rest/quiet time/movie/tv. After quiet time, we'll do *school*, which will involve reading for the library's book club and math assignments. Then free time until Daddy gets home.
Too structured? Not structured enough? I guess I'll live and learn.
Etcetera.
3 comments:
I think it's great to have a structure as long as it is flexible. Make a list now of quick activities you can throw together with things around the house, or even kit them up in a ziploc or a bin. Make a bored board or jar where they can randomly choose something to occupy them for that half hour you need to regain your sanity. And my kids can't do school in the afternoon. You may have to switch it to first thing in the am.
I think it's somewhere between perfectly structured and not structured enough. I'd say you should have some family chore/house cleaning time in there - get them more involved in those things while they're home. I also second the bored jar idea. (Not that been particularly good at implementing either of these myself. But I love the ideas...) I would not designate all of Friday as free time, but have some structure to it. Maybe make it board game day and family movie night. Nothing that adds too much more work for you, but something structured they can still look forward to.
Don't forget playdates! Very useful in maintaining everyone's sanity, but they have to be organized in advance.
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