Parenting Tips

Friday, December 05, 2008

It's been one of those weeks. Well, okay, maybe not the whole week, but for sure a couple days. Here is what I have learned. If it's hard to keep your younger children wholesomely occupied while homeschooling a 6th and 7th grader, or even if you just have cabin fever when you have young children, here are a few tips. 1) Let them play in the bathroom! Don't worry about climbing being dangerous or what they'll get into, just let them climb. Or if Legos aren't quite as much fun in a more appropriate room, take them to the bathroom. A guaranteed 30 minutes of peace and quiet! Not sanitary? I don't want to hear it. 2) If little kiddos are shadowing your every move, hanging on your leg, asking to go potty every five minutes (really, he just wants a sucker or a piece of gum!!!), whining, (etc, etc, etc) a good remedy is to throw oops, I meant gently place them in the bathtub. For an hour. Just keep adding hot water. Sit on the nearby toilet seat and read a magazine. They are happy in the bathtub. It's a peaceful time. A break, if you will. (of course, some of those cups got knocked off the edge and had to be cleaned up, but it's worth it) 3) If that's not working, let them tear the entire living room up, pull the cushions off the couch, drape blankets all around, you name it. 4) When you're *really* having a bad day, don't put clothes on them (truth, he wanted to wear his jammies and I just didn't care), don't fix their hair (okay, truly guilty on that one), and let them watch a movie. Two movies in two days. They turn into zombies if you let them. Wow! It's amazing! 5) And if all else fails, let them play with their older brother's tools. Just for a minute. There you have it! And I hope you have a really good friend, like I do, who had me over for lunch yesterday. When I shared my 'funk' with my friend Misti, she listened patiently, then advised me that I needed a 'renewing of my mind' as per Romans 12. She was right! God is so good. I took it to Him, He listened, He forgave, and He adjusted my attitude. So you can stop feeling sorry for my kids, I'll try to be a better mom now.