Mid-Summer Trouble
by Jamie Edson Opielski
Its midway through summer break and I find myself counting the days till the first day of school….
I had everything mapped out several weeks before summer break had started for the kids. It was going to be great! I had plans for the kids to help me out with the business, each having their own job to do. It was perfect, they would be helping me out and they would be staying BUSY!
Unfortunately, they had other plans-
Not plans to go outside and play, or play video games, etc. They (my 6 yr old twins) had plans to beat the living crud out of one another, they had plans to scream and drive me to the padded walls of the funny farm. The fights were just crazy- hitting each other with a video game controller, slapping, biting, throwing hard objects at one another you name it. They would even jump on each other unexpectedly in places that could be very damaging or life threatening. And the screams- out of the blue high pitched screams that tortured your ears and made your teeth hurt.
The majority of the time they decided to carry out their plans while I was on a phone conference or when I was in need of some heavy concentration. It has been a completely crazy summer. With all of the commotion going on I am so amazed that I am able to get stuff done with all the battles I have to break up.
Since I started working from home, my summers have usually been pretty decent. Sure there were fights and boredom, but this year takes the whole darn cake! It seems that as they get older the more stubborn they have become. Now my oldest two pretty much go outside, go over to their friend's house or whatever they can find to do other than helping me with the business or the house work. And then of course they can't leave to go anywhere unless their rooms are clean and you become the meanest mother in the world!
I think I have done decided that if they complain too many times about being bored, I will assign them a small task to help with the business and a small project to do after they finish their chores and it will have to be complete before they go anywhere or do anything else. This in turn will teach them to be creative and use their imagination when they find themselves becoming bored. I remember as a child always going outside to play and making things up. We didn't have computers and cell phones or these high notch video games they have these days and unfortunately you just can't let your kids roam the streets either!
So when it comes to your kids being home for the summer, have your chore chart ready and make sure you have plenty of projects or tasks for them to do! I will certainly plan things better next summer.
©Jamie Edson Opielski
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