Thursday, March 29, 2012
Next stage of life
Well, we've always had kids around our house. Before we moved we usually had anywhere between 1-5 kids at our house... two boys that liked our computer games and three girls that liked to water color with me in the carport. Then I was watching my neighbors kids. On some days I had 5 kids 3 and under for about 8 hours at a time. I thought it would be easy to transition from always having kids around to having my kids friends in and out of the house... But for some reason I'm having a hard time adjusting to it. We went from scheduled play dates and my "sacred" nap times to kids that stop in any time to see if Ada can play. During the last week we've had an average of about 6 kids per day from about 11 am to 4 pm. No sacred nap times, cleaning hours or project time. Mostly they stay in the yard, which is fine with me, but the things I'm having the hardest time with are... missing my quiet time, extra whining and tattling and feeding all the neighbor kids... especially since they're young enough that if one is hungry they all say they're starving (the oldest that comes over is about 6... every now and then a 9 year old comes too... but mostly it's a 6 year old, two five year olds, Ada, Sammy, a 3 year old and another 2 year old.) The pluses outweigh the negatives... but I just have to remember that. I like the fact that I know where my kids are, what they're doing, and who they are with. I like knowing what upsets them and what makes them happy with their friends. I also like establishing that they can bring their friends over here without being nervous or afraid to ask.
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Rhees Family
This is such a fun family. They're sweet and playful. It's fun to get to know them and try not to freeze in the cold rain! It was...
4 comments:
We have never had that except a little bit in Lehi. We always end in neighborhoods where parents work and kids don't leave their own house until they are 8, but then they have school and after school activities etc.
I like "sacred" nap time. I agree that naps are important.
It is nice to have friends that the kids can play with. I had the problem in Pocatello of a little boy coming over ALL the time so we came up with a good solution. We put a flag on the door if the kids could play, and if the flag wasn't on the door he knew not to come ask. While it is great to have friends, don't give up your quiet time yet. You and your kids need that. Make sure that know it is okay to tell the friends to go home for a while and they can come back later.
I like the flag idea. Just wait till school though. Its the next stage. Ada starts kindergarten (unless you home-school) next year and that changes everything! No friends till homework done and that kind stuff.
I think its hardest on the parents!
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