Parenting: The Challenge

Having kids is always a full time job, but when summer break hits, it can seem like even more work.  Keeping kids occupied and off the computer can be a challenge.  Online parenting classes just don’t seem to delve into this black hole of child rearing.  Everyone knows that parenting young children can be an adventure, but you can’t entertain your kids every second of every day. So what can you do?

I made my kids a schedule for summer. Because I work from home, I need time that is uninterrupted to get things done. But I don’t want the kids watching TV or playing video games just to keep them quiet. So they have time for TV in the morning but must turn it off by a certain time. Then I give them a chore to complete. Nothing major but something that helps them contribute. After all, I am not a maid. After chore time is free play. This has to keep them occupied until I finish working. If they can leave me alone to get done, they are rewarded by some kind of outing.

Outings don’t have to be expensive, they just need to get you away from the house so you and your kids don’t go crazy. We visit our local library, go to museums and parks, and swim at the local pool or at the lake. We try to join up with our friends as much as possible as well. This gives all the parents a little social time as well as lets the kids entertain themselves.

Sometimes it just isn’t possible to get out of the house. Then what do you do? Now that my kids are older, I send them outside to play without me in the back yard. They can hunt bugs, play with the hose or just be. Sometimes I help them build a fort or set up a board game for the two of them. We also have crafts and art supplies in abundance. No matter how creative I am, I still get the “I’m Bored!!”

Then it’s time for the big guns. We have a bored bucket in our house. Inside the bored bucket are really fun things like sponges, towels, dusters, scrubbers etc.  When my kids are so bored that they have to come to me, I give them a choice out of the bored bucket. This is a great way to get things done, encourage your kids own creativity and teach them that grown ups can’t always entertain them. I don’t know if this is a good sign or not, but the bored bucket only makes 2 or 3 appearances each summer. Guess they are learning.