So......here is my plan to survive the summer. My own children are 15,12,9, so I don't have little ones of my own. My 12 year old very much enjoys crafty activities, so once a week we will have a craft day. I am not going to do it more then that because for one, it will get expesive, and 2, I have had my families long enough to know they don't enjoy crafts. They look at them as junk, sad but true. I am going to let her run it.
I plan on spending a large chunk of our morning outside. We are going to do a small garden and a small flower bed that the SA can help plant, water and care for. Every afternoon there will be a mandatory quiet time from 1 to 1:45 for everybody!! No looking at books, no quiet activities, they will find a spot and just be. I don't think that that is to long of a time for them to just chill. After that, I will take the SA to the kitchen table and they can draw, write, read or work on a work book of school related activities. If their behavior is good throughout the week, they can earn a Wii party on fridays. Once a week we will have a movie in the afternoon. As I do mainly have little kid toys, I will allow them to bring one toy from home, but it can not be weapon related or electronic. I have legos, marble run, games, SA books, art supplies and that sort of thing that they can use. We will make playdough, and they can choose to help with snack prep if they want to.
I am going to TRY and remove the word "no" from my vocabulary this summer and go with the theory of, if it's doable give it a try. I have a tendency to say no because of the work/mess/time involved, but I am going to try and let the older kids do more of the leading this summer. I am in a bit of a different circumstance because the kids that I have this summer have all been raised with me. So they aren't newbie SA kids coming into the environment. They know my rules and know how we do things around here. SA are not my favorite age by far. This is the last summer I will be doing them as the sibling groups that I have are moving on.
I am just going to try and go with it and not stress over things. Yes they will probably get on my nerves. I will probably get tired of hearing "i'm bored". But with the group I have I need to watch the SA. If it's all you can find, I think you can make it work, you just have to adjust your mindset. Not sure if that' s much help, but it's how I plan on handling things.
I would rather be poor than care for school agers.
I have a house full of my own!.......... ::::Why would I want someone else's?::::
OMG I think the SA were the reason that i had to dye my hair twice in 3 months.
Yes everything she said..
If i ever, which I NEVER want to, I would only do it if something wiped out all the toddlers..... yes never.
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