Obviously what difference led to this, is what I need to figure out. I think I did. Last night I cleaned up after all the kids were in bed. Normally we all clean up together in the morning. I means much frustration, procrastination and avoidance. Yes sadly not the description of respect I wish I was describing. I was a not in a good mood. A bit P.O'ed. When like that I clean. It was more relaxing for me to wake up in a clean area. And I wasn't rushing everyone to get it done before school started.
Amazing how a chore can make life go better. So the next questions are:
- can I find the drive to do this every afternnoon?
- am I Ok with doing most of the cleaning, believing it is good for kids to learn such skills (they will need it one day)...not sure.
OK not a thrilling post but it is what it is.
On a better note I got four books from the library for the kids for canadian history. It is the "Dear Canada" series. I am excited. They cover so many events in history, and we remember stories so well. I think it will help. :)
I've recently found your blog & have enjoyed poking around :-) We homeschool, too, but I'm down to just one 14 yo daughter at this point. Back when they were younger, we used to do "clean-up" after dinner but before it got to be snack/bedtime. I involved them as much as their ages allowed: clear dinner dishes from the table & bring them to the sink, clean up their toys, p/u random socks or other weird stuff & put it near the stairs if it was to go upstairs, etc. Sometimes when it was a really messy day, I'd have to break it down to "you pick up books, and you pick up any dishes & bring them to the kitchen" type thing. And sometimes we'd sing this irritating clean up song from Barney, but the kids loved it!! lol Or sometimes I'd bribe them with an extra book at bedtime for getting done clean-up so nicely/quickly....
ReplyDeleteAnyway, just some ideas & perhaps you're already doing them. I know how exhausting the days can be, but as my kids get to be older teens I'm seeing how much those years spent together have paid off.
I enjoyed looking at the costume you made. I love to sew, quilt, cross-stitch, and hand-stitch, but I've never really gotten the hang of clothing beyond pj pants :-)
Take care... Denise
Thanks Denise.It is nice to hear similar thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI too have had them cleaning since very small. At this point my saying is "if i am cleaning, you are cleaning". So considering having the main clean at night was a big thing. I have found a compromise. We need spot cleans through out the day (have a solution to that I hope). But we have been cleaning after Indy goes to bed and then I mop after they all go to bed. So we wake up in a clean house and we still all did it.
We also had a clean up song. I now get several annoyed looks if I sing it. I am very glad to hear it will pay off.
Also pleased you enjoyed the costumes. I love sewing. Stopped cross stitching years ago. To busy with other things sewing related. To get the hang of clothing buy easy patterns. Eventually you will just know how to put them together, what shape they will be. At that point start measuring and tracing them and you will learn how to make your own. If something stumps me or I am not confident i will fit it well then I buy a pattern. Sometimes I alter the pattern if it is close to what I want.