Time to hit the child-rearing books again. I've been the biggest slacker ever! And it shows in my household conditions (just ask my mom) and my kids' behavior. I've been letting them run wild all summer. They have free reign of the house and toys, no schedule, stay up late, the older two have not had a nap in months -other than the occasional car conk out, and ALL whine, fight, hit, yell, and cry waaaay too much. I'm going crazy because I've let them be crazy, and now that school has started it's time to reintroduce the magic of routine to my kids, and myself.
My kind of routine is no routine. I love to wake up having absolutely no idea what I will do with my day. I like it to all be a mystery with no expectations because then, I'm never disappointed! I've noted, however, that this makes kids anxious, cranky, and more inclined to misbehave. I actually followed the wise advice of these books once (consistently anyway) about two years ago, for a couple, maybe three weeks. I was amazed. We were all happier. With order came peace, many quiet moments throughout the day, and busier children (busy in a good way) who did not have time to squabble or whine at me. I looked forward to planning their days every night and would go to bed excited, instead of dreadful for the morning. I felt so creative and in control! Only problem was, like most tasks, I had a hard time following through.
After summer vacations, one loooong vacation from anything that even closely resembles a parenting book, and plenty of crazy, twirly, unexpected treat-filled days, I'm ready to try, try again. I'm going to let calming Order have it's season mid-September through May, and dedicate Wild, carefree, crazy days to summer!
Anyone want to try this strategy out with me? I need all the help I can get! Tomorrow is my first day of 1/2 hour t.v. MAX (okay maaaaybe an hour), storybook times, room/play alone times, sibling play time, special alone time with mommy, NAPS (or at least a good long quiet time), and of course free play time for all that imagining (and for me to have a break, but with children well attended to and happy to have mom leave them alone for a while).
Are there any better books about raising the most quiet, well-mannered, lovely, yet still imaginative and independent (but not too independent) children, that I should know about? This way is hard! But so far, the most sound advice I've come across -as far as keeping my house presentable for the impromptu visit from a neighbor and me from looking like this:
Wish me luck!
11 comments:
I would definitely be interested in checking the books out. Love Over Board, some days I too feel like saying, "buh, buh, buh, buh....."
Oh man! I have no idea! Good luck indeed.
know what else I would be interested in? The schedule you come up with since our situations are pretty similar... can you post that for me so I don't have to do any work?
Ha ha! SURE! But you know me and following through...so far I got the time with mom (cooking in the kitchen with me) and NAPS! But that's it...and they watched more than 1/2 hour of t.v.! AND ran around and destroyed the house in between the smoothies, and the muffins, and the almond milk making! Ha ha!
yeah it's kind of ambitious to try the veggie diet and child wise on the same day :)
I'm a bad mommy sometimes. Yesterday I totally neglected the girls so I could sew some aprons for relief society and I felt so guilty that today I'm not doing anything and Hannah had brownies and candy for breakfast and we've been watching t.v. since for 3 hours now!! LOL Let us know how everything goes!
I definitely am on board!!!! I know Laney is only 16 months old but there must be one of those books for age right? Let me know which one I should start reading for her age. I followed "on becoming baby wise" pretty much religiously and thank myself to this day that my daughter goes to sleep with out so much as a peep. But I am finding my days at home unorganized and already tv on way too much! I swore I would not allow too much tv in our house to rob the imagination of my kids. So, I am in desperate need of play ideas, activities for her age and a new routine to start. Thanks Dee for the reminder and the motivation!
That picture cracked me up by the way! I felt like that's what I looked like two days ago!
Ha ha! I know, that's my favorite part of that movie I think.
So there is Toddler Wise. I think that's the next one for Laney's age.
It all sounds great to me Deann but it must be so hard to follow the routines all throughtout the day. I read Toddler wise but I wasn't that impressed with it. I think I was looking for more ideas and I felt it was lacking that. Maybe I need to go back and read it again. I totally believe that children need a routine, especially for nap time and bed time! There are many days in the Harper household that the TV is on WAY too much and I know that is not good. SO I could use some new fresh ideas on how to fill our day!
Love it! I am a summer time slacker too. Then when school starts I bust out mean mom. I loved baby wise...didn't know there was one for older kids. Gonna have to invest. I also love parenting with love and logic. I pull a few tricks on the kids from that book. Gotta love it. Who would of thought that we'd be reading child rearing books. I sometimes wonder if my parents did.
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