Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be positive – all the time? I wonder how many people actually are…
Granted, at times, situations involving children can cause a reaction for whatever reason and sometimes you may feel there is very good reason. A dangerous situation, so naturally we react? But be it that we get stressed or busy or tired and then the kids do something OUTRAGROUS like draw all over themselves or throw the toilet roll in the loo, while you are trying to cook dinner ?????? Yes frustrating perhaps, but probably best resolved in a positive way?
Why did I start this post in this way? Because those who are home with the kids during school holidays or just being home with the kids all day you may know that it can require greater attention than school days. Plus there can be increased opportunity for these ‘little situations.’
I just wanted to admit that there are probably things many of us can do, at times, to focus on the positives even when things are not quite ideal. Mine is just another opinion or take on the topic in the great world out there, with which you may agree or disagree.
This leads me into our school holiday adventures. Social media seems to be a great place to see the different ideas families focus on for holiday entertainment. Crafty, educational, fun, indoor/outdoor and even out of the box activities. However the time is spent, the main thing is that you got through it ?. The kids were somehow entertained and through that hopefully they were able to learn a thing or two. Often there is a stereotype around kids getting ‘bored’ quickly during school holidays. They definitely can require quite a bit of attention! But that’s to be expected? Kids like to be occupied and playing (and eating, what seems like more, over the break) ? The full days spent together can get a bit (or a lot for some) tense so what can we do to avoid any confrontation? I think it certainly helps if they are busy which generally equals happy(er) ?
So in retrospect, I thought I would share some of the things we did. My focus during this school break was to ensure we had increased opportunity to learn ‘together’ through play and when I couldn’t be directly involved – trying to involve them in what I needed to get done. So in no particular order and not a complete list:
? We all really enjoy board games. Family Feud was a hit and quite educational too!
? Movie time introducing a couple of my childhood favourites; The Wizard of Oz and Mary Poppins. Of course we changed the name of our toy dog to Toto afterwards ? and can’t seem to stop singing “a spoonful of sugar…”?
? Birthday parties?? and play time with friends (they always enjoy that)
? Princess figurine play (I was Belle ? role playing and improvising the script. Can’t see myself acting on television any time soon though ?
? Various supervised arts and crafts including painting, colouring, drawing, sticking?✂️?
? Lots of reading. Not surprisingly, ABC with Lullaby ? and we also seem to be into Tinkerbell lately. Good old Disney! ?
? Writing practice including the alphabet and for something different we wrote a poem ?
? Play centre craziness (crazy for me, better than sliced ‘fairy’ bread for them)
? Quick dash to the Melbourne Show for some colourful fun, sunshine and family bonding
? Cleaning. Yep you read right. Once they got ‘bored’ playing alone they wanted to join the cleaning madness. “Mum you will finish quicker if we help you then you can PLAY with us?” Mind you they offered near the end ? but at least they offered. All in the name of ‘then you can play with us’ ??
? Can’t have holidays without our favourite baby pancakes. I think this is a cookie but I will pretend it’s a chocolate chip pancake ??
Whatever you did with the children around you over the holidays, I hope it was a positive experience. I think it’s a great thing that they want to spend time interacting with us and having our ‘uninterrupted’ attention whenever we can and even sometimes when we cannot. A lot of us seem to be so busy with everything often, no wonder they sometimes use themselves as a canvas ? They are probably just trying to get our attention and make us stop and focus on something other than our growing task list! I know sometimes it may not seem like it but most things can wait. I want to ensure I make a conscious effort to let those things wait and be more present for my children especially when they ask me to be.
“The work will wait while you show the child the rainbow, but the rainbow won’t wait while you do the work.” – Unknown
Karol
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