We have, at my last frantic look, 29 days until school starts again.
tick, tick, tick......
Last week I realized the error of my ways. I had inadvertently left the TV on and someone had put on PBS. I don't know who. It was like putting Dennis Rodman in front of a bar. The girls just got sucked right in and appeared unable to move themselves away. Physically unable. Glued to the edge of the couch/ bar stool. Quiet. Did I mention the quiet? Calm too.
This is what I have been doing wrong, I have been forcing these dear little innocents to use their brains. Exercise their minds. Exercise their bodies. Get sun. Get fresh air. Practice handwriting. Learn coins. All those useless ways to make time go by. Fighting. Arguing. Whining. Resisting. Complaining. UGH!
When all along, all I had to do to get cooperative, pleasant children, was to turn on the TV. Dangit. Some day I will get this right.
(the above is glorious use of a highly developed skill set in sarcasm and is not intended to reflect reality)
Showing posts with label school breaks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school breaks. Show all posts
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Something fun
I have my girls in summer school, which around here goes for about a month. It is in the morning and lasts until noon. At which point I become responsible for them again. Again! (I mean, didn't I just take care of them yesterday?)
Since all indications are pointing to visits from The Crazy, tantrums, fits, and the rage of all those who are not getting their way, versus those who are not playing right, I decided to take a different approach instead of my usual approach of screaming. Sigh. I am going to be considerably more assertive in deciding what they do. Aggressive even. No arguments. Here is our fun thing to do now shut up, smile and have fun doing it.
No, not really. But as I thought up a few things I thought, well maybe I will share them and maybe other people will share some ideas too. Because folks, it is going to be a looooong summer. Looooooong. It already has been loooooong. And there is more coming. (Lets face it, summer vacation is the Department of Educations way of keeping us down. Its their loving little way of saying EFF YOU parents! Quit your complaining about accurate state capitals and spelling of vegetables! Or we will make these breaks even longer! There will be more! Arbor Day vacation! No child will be left behind!)
Okay, to the point already. This little fun thing occupied my kids for about a half hour and they had a blast. I decided to teach them coins and so I laid out 4 coins on a piece of paper and wrote the number value next to them and we went over and over the names of each. Quickly I realized 4 coins was too many. Ahem. So, we went to the penny and nickel since they are more obviously different. I grabbed a pile of loose change out of The Husbands coat pockets and hid it behind a notebook. The girls sat across from me with their little coin banks. I showed a coin over the top of the paper and they had to call it out, whatever it was, and the first kid to get it right got to keep it and put it in their bank. I would flip it over the top of the notebook and they had to grab it. Then we switched it up and used quarters and dimes. Loads of fun, made them happy, and they quit the complaining for over 30 minutes! And they got them some educatin'!
Share! Share and linkback if you have something fun, easy, simple, fun and time consuming.
Since all indications are pointing to visits from The Crazy, tantrums, fits, and the rage of all those who are not getting their way, versus those who are not playing right, I decided to take a different approach instead of my usual approach of screaming. Sigh. I am going to be considerably more assertive in deciding what they do. Aggressive even. No arguments. Here is our fun thing to do now shut up, smile and have fun doing it.
No, not really. But as I thought up a few things I thought, well maybe I will share them and maybe other people will share some ideas too. Because folks, it is going to be a looooong summer. Looooooong. It already has been loooooong. And there is more coming. (Lets face it, summer vacation is the Department of Educations way of keeping us down. Its their loving little way of saying EFF YOU parents! Quit your complaining about accurate state capitals and spelling of vegetables! Or we will make these breaks even longer! There will be more! Arbor Day vacation! No child will be left behind!)
Okay, to the point already. This little fun thing occupied my kids for about a half hour and they had a blast. I decided to teach them coins and so I laid out 4 coins on a piece of paper and wrote the number value next to them and we went over and over the names of each. Quickly I realized 4 coins was too many. Ahem. So, we went to the penny and nickel since they are more obviously different. I grabbed a pile of loose change out of The Husbands coat pockets and hid it behind a notebook. The girls sat across from me with their little coin banks. I showed a coin over the top of the paper and they had to call it out, whatever it was, and the first kid to get it right got to keep it and put it in their bank. I would flip it over the top of the notebook and they had to grab it. Then we switched it up and used quarters and dimes. Loads of fun, made them happy, and they quit the complaining for over 30 minutes! And they got them some educatin'!
Share! Share and linkback if you have something fun, easy, simple, fun and time consuming.
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