Spring is nearly here! Which means summer is close behind. Summer brings beach days and sleeping in getting up at the same time because you have kids, but it can also bring days of monotony and stir-crazy kids (and moms!) You might also find yourself stuck at home suddenly for another reason. Here are some tips to keep everyone, yourself included, happy and sane! You might make a few memories, too.
Create a list of activities
Last year, a week into summer, my rising kindergartener complained of being bored. To cure this boredom, I had him sit down and help me list every single thing we could do or play with at our house. We came up with almost 50 things to do: Lego’s, coloring, play-doh, blocks, art projects, etc. Whenever anyone tells me they’re bored, we pull out the list and pick something that we haven’t done in a while. Even if we don’t necessarily feel like doing when we pick it, it always turns into an unexpectedly fun and entertaining time.
“Lesson plan” days or weeks
This one is for the plan-loving moms among us. Why not let the kids pick a couple topics they’d like to learn about, and do something different each day in relation to that topic? Let’s say, for example, your three-year-old loves bugs. On Monday borrow some books about bugs and do some bug coloring pages. Tuesday you could have a bug scavenger hunt outside. Wednesday you could string cheerios onto a pipe cleaner to make “caterpillars”. You get the idea. This only requires a little planning and small time commitment each day (under an hour), but it adds just the amount of structure that some of us really need.
Accept Boredom
This is the opposite of the previous suggestions, but it’s just as important to mention. I’ll just go ahead and say it: it’s not your job to entertain your kids 24/7. Regular periods of boredom are good for kids’ brains. It helps them get creative. Remember all those fabulous games of make-believe we played as kids? Those all arose out of having nothing to do. We can plan and try to stay active for our own sanity (as sometimes boredom = whiny kids) but completely depriving our kids of boredom could also be depriving them of their best games yet.
Get outside as much as possible
By now we all know the physical and mental benefits of being outside, but truly, they cannot be understated. Kids of all ages, from newborns to teens, seem to be “reset” by going outside. In Japan they call it “forest bathing”, and it might be even more important than actual bathing. Even if your “forest” is a local park, a tree is a tree.
Change it up
Cake for breakfast. Backwards Clothes Day. Silly name day. These are a couple ideas to keep things interesting and fun. Your kids will feel special and it will break up any monotony that might be setting in. If you have older kids, let them come up with some family “holidays”. If it’s just you at home with a newborn, well, every day should be cake for breakfast day. Because we said so!
Enforce a quiet time
I’ll never forget the day my oldest stopped napping. She was my only child at the time and I had clung to that hour and forty-five minutes to help clear my head and recharge back into myself. Having a little bit of a break helps us be better moms; it’s been proven. So what do you do when kids stop napping or take naps at different times? Enforce a daily quiet time where everyone finds a space to themselves and plays quietly. Does this sound like an impossible pipe dream? It might be, at first. It definitely takes some training and positive reinforcement, but it can become a habit just like eating breakfast in the morning is a regular part of the day. It might be helpful to start with only ten minutes and slowly lengthen it each day.
Keep somewhat of a routine
I know there are moms out there who thrive on a more laissez faire attitude about things. I try to be that mom, but my kids always seem to end up spiraling into aimless snacking and fighting about a slap bracelet one kid got from the dentist treasure box. For us, at least, keeping somewhat of a routine seems to cut down on the bickering and makes our time more enjoyable all around. I still schedule unstructured free time where they can exercise those boredom muscles and be creative, but it helps the kids and myself to know “ok, forty minutes until lunch time, and then quiet time for one hour, then we’ll go for a walk.” Child psychologists say that a lot of challenging behaviors from kids are from them feeling insecure due to not knowing what is going on or what is going to happen. Keeping a loose routine can help them, and you, to stay out of the spiral.
Do you have tips for keeping things running smoothly at home? We’d love to hear them!
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