I know some moms who are great at structuring their days and keeping their kids active all day. That has to be one of my greatest weaknesses though. Not the structure part - because I love having the boys on a routine; but keeping them active all day is a major challenge for me. My Indian name might as well be "Boring Mom." I wake up at 7am almost every day and think to myself "SHOOT! What am I going to do with these boys for the next 12 hours?!" It's enough to make me just want to crawl back to bed and put the covers over my head.
Some of my friends have the best ideas! Crafts, games, projects- you name it, they've done it and do it on a regular basis (Yes, that includes you, Anna!) :) Me? I'm like "Um, boys, do you want to go play in the dirt outside?" Next activity: "Boys, do you want to come watch TV?" Next activity, "Boys, do you want to play in your room now?" Yeah, not so creative, I know. So, I just feel bad!!! I have 7 weeks left and am wondering what to do with them!!
Another thing I've noticed is that entertaining your kids can be expensive! I wanted to do a preschool curriculum with them over the summer. But if I had an extra $50-60 to spend each month, we'd have cable or a decent cell phone plan. I bought some supplies yesterday to paint bird houses. $15 later, Martin showed me that the holes are too small in the bird houses for the birds to fit in. Oops... Make my own playdough, you say? Been there, done that, and cleaned the carpet for weeks afterwards.
So, there is my weakness. Thankfully I have MOPS play dates once a week (1 morning down!), a friend has been letting us use their pool while they are on vacation, and we have a park nearby that we can walk to (when I'm not sitting on my butt trying to think of activities to do). Tomorrow we're off to the Science Discovery Center, so that is one more day down. But Thursday morning, you may find me with the covers over my head again.
You are funny! I don't think having free time is bad - I'm happy to let my kids be kids and not over schedule their days. Just a few chores to help even things out around here :)
ReplyDeleteaww don't feel bad! So many Moms are in this same situation (including myself!). Cayden is now 4 and Jordan, although only 8mo old, both take a lot of my time and focus too. I'm always trying to think of different things for them to do, mainly Cayden. Things that will educate him, keep him from being bored, all while having fun! And you know what? It's really "OK" for kids to just do 'nothing' sometimes - or what we would call nothing! Playing in their room, watching a video, playing in the bath. Part of being a kid is using their imagination in all kinds of different ways! Some of my best memories were playing with toys in my room. The SAME toys I saw day after day.. ;) Don't stress about it always "doing it right" so to say. You are an awesome Mom, your kids require one thing everyday, love! And I know they are getting an abundant supply of that from you. :) The fun, creative things will still happen... and when they do, your kids will appreciate them all the more!
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