Managing Yourself With The Kids Home For The Summer
by Jamie Edson Opielski
Ok, so its summer break and now your kids are home all the time. What does this mean for you the work at home parent? Utter craziness! The schedule that you have become accustomed to, what concentration you once had suddenly gets out of whack! It is now up to you to keep your children entertained, active and the whole shabang!
'Mom what can I do?', 'Mom I'm bored', mom this- mom that. Have you noticed that when your kids ask you what they can do cause they're bored and you give them your response like help clean the house or clean your room- they aren't bored anymore. They suddenly have something better to do!
Well there are many activities including chores that you can give your children to keep them busy without disrupting your work schedule too much. When the weather is nice- kick them out of the house! Make them go out side and play. Of course depending on your children's ages will determine the kind of outdoor activities you can throw their way. As far as my twins go, they can go out in the backyard where they are happy for hours! Another great thing for younger kids, send them to a Mother's Day Out program. I just started my 4 yr old twins at one that runs from 11:30 am to 4:30 pm on Mondays and Wednesdays. That's five wonderful hours of pure concentration for me and it's fun for them.
The older kids send them out to play catch, boardgames, throw a football back and forth, ride bicycles, go to the park, go swimming, go to the movies, go to the mall- just to name a few. A lot of these things they can even do with their friends. Heck half of the time they'd rather just go hang out at their friends' houses. But of course- in my house, none of this gets to happen until their chores are done and they have helped out around the house.
Do they have an interest in what kind of work you do? Let them help you out! Have some loose papers/folders that need to be filed, collated, stapled? Put them to work! Let them straighten up your book shelves or make copies of a form or two. They'll be doing something useful and staying out of trouble.
How bout having a little fun and take an hour or two to spend with your kids for lunch. Go to a fun place like Gatti Land or Chuck E Cheeses. Eat and play games, it'll be a great time for you and them. You'll probably notice that your shoulders don't feel so heavy anymore- you actually had a nice time! Be sure to let them know that you still have important work left to do and that you enjoyed spending lunch time with them. It'll make them feel good.
Enjoy your fun activity planning!
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