More Fun and Games continued from here
Well, I just completed another modified practice SIP — this one was the heat wave that came through, and since no one wanted to go anywhere or do anything, we just stayed home — alone — for 4 days in a row. No nursery school, no pool, no library, no visits, no nothing but Mom, the 1 year old and the 4 year old. Daddy did come home at 6:30 every night to a screaming mommy.
Hanging out alone with small children is not for the faint of heart and I have a few small inklings of how hard a true SIP for even 2 weeks or so would be on us. I am assuming with older children who can actually play with each other it might not be so bad; or with a 4 year old who is not a huge extrovert, maybe a sedate child who just likes to sit and play by himself, not one who is so in-your-fact all the time.
But anyhow, I have a lot more ideas about (a) how hard it will be and (b) things to do to try to make it easier mentally.
1) a schedule 2) some mandatory alone time for everyone. 3) some time for kids to play with each other 4) mandatory “no talking” time — mellow time 5) positive attitude
This last one was when I heard my self talk about how crappy this week was, how it was really awful to be stuck inside with the kids again. That negtive attitude did a number on me and influences how I behaved with the kids. WHen I forced myself to say nice things, i did get along better with them.
In thinking about why there aren’t more young people on this list, esp. parents of young children, I think part of it is, there is no way people my age can comprehend staying home with their kids (instead of working) for longer than a week. I know when I mention bird-flu to my working-mom, professional friends, they all agreed it was an important issue, but the idea of schools closing and being home with the kids was what worried them the most — not running out of food or medicine.
Anyhow, after I have a little more breathing room, I’m going to get back to work on my guide, just wanted you all to know I wasn’t giving up.
PS I wasn’t really scremaing, that’s an exaggeration, I was pretty wiped out though by the day. (-:
Average Concerned Mom – at 13:04
Schedules are also a good thing when dealing with young children. LOL! And schedules should always include nap or quiet time. <grin>
I’ve found that little kids have no sense of time, or very little constructive sense of it. By breaking the days down into more manageable chunks of time and making sure I know what is supposed to be happening during those chunks of time it has made it much easier to deal with kids … regardless of their age, but especially with younger children that haven’t learned to self-manage yet.
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