0 comment Tuesday, April 8, 2014 | admin
Just for the record, I didn't inflict a two day funk on my family this weekend. I came close to tipping into the abyss on Sunday morning when I overslept and came downstairs feeling headachey to find that husband had not done everything I would do in the way that I would do it. But I pulled back.
I convinced myself that, in honour of the start of the holidays, happiness was allowed to happen. We've got an easy few weeks ahead of us and if that can't make me happy, nothing will and I should just give up and go and live in a cave on my own somewhere and stop bothering nice people.
This week the kids are in their School's Sports Camp and they are ecstatic about it. Seriously, for once I'm not being sarcastic. They did Sports Camp last Autumn and loved it and they've been really looking forward to going to this summer one. I've been looking forward to it too, in truth. A longer than school day, with less traffic to battle and no homework to make them do? What's not to like? This week almost feels like a holiday for me too. That's why I'm pissing around on the computer at 10.35 in the morning, spending time with my favourite blogging people, checking out sites about Guinea Pigs, and communicating with friends through e-mail and Facebook. I'm on holiday, I can do whatever the hell I like, and I happen to like doing stuff like that.
Over the weekend, also in honour of the start of the holidays, I allowed the kids have more time on the wii and the DS. I'm usually quite strict with how much time they can have on those things in a day, usually one hour in the morning and one hour after 4pm. Mainly this was because I noticed that if they spent too long playing these things, they were prone to being moody when they came off. The games they play can be quite intense and they just couldn't handle them for too long without getting wound up. Also, the wii and the ds are their very favourite things and if I didn't put limits on when and how long they could be used, then they'd just want to be on them all the time, sabotaging anything else I tried to do. And yes, I do know that from experience.
But, they've come a long way in the last year. They don't tantrum and fight when they stop playing anymore. Even my obsessive son can handle coming off the games now because he understands and trusts he will get to play again the next day. So I made a deal with them. They can play on these games longer, as long as they keep showing me that they can handle it. No tantrums when they come off, no fighting, no moodiness. Any sign of going back to that sort of behaviour, then we're cutting it back again.
So far, they've managed to handle it and I am really glad. We should all be allowed to do the stuff we like for a while, shouldn't we? Juts like I intend to piss around on the internet for the entirety of this morning, shouldn't we let out kids just go mad with their favourite things for a bit too?
The key is balance, I think, *she says, her protestant work ethic breaking through* I mean, before I came on the computer this morning I already did the shopping and housework, and I've got a load of washing in. Then this afternoon I'll work some more on the garden. It's not like I've gone crazy spending the entire day dossing around. And the same with the kids. I've got lots of creative, healing, useful, playful, bonding activities lined up for us to do over the summer, and we will do them. But, you know what, I don't think the earth will grind to a halt if my son spends an extra hour playing Mario Kart too.
I'm feeling a bit sorry for my husband right now. He works full time and he's only got one week off this whole summer. This used to make me feel guilty, but now I think, in honour of how lucky I am not to have to work, I'll just appreciate my time off instead. School's out... let's party! Or something a bit like that.
I convinced myself that, in honour of the start of the holidays, happiness was allowed to happen. We've got an easy few weeks ahead of us and if that can't make me happy, nothing will and I should just give up and go and live in a cave on my own somewhere and stop bothering nice people.
This week the kids are in their School's Sports Camp and they are ecstatic about it. Seriously, for once I'm not being sarcastic. They did Sports Camp last Autumn and loved it and they've been really looking forward to going to this summer one. I've been looking forward to it too, in truth. A longer than school day, with less traffic to battle and no homework to make them do? What's not to like? This week almost feels like a holiday for me too. That's why I'm pissing around on the computer at 10.35 in the morning, spending time with my favourite blogging people, checking out sites about Guinea Pigs, and communicating with friends through e-mail and Facebook. I'm on holiday, I can do whatever the hell I like, and I happen to like doing stuff like that.
Over the weekend, also in honour of the start of the holidays, I allowed the kids have more time on the wii and the DS. I'm usually quite strict with how much time they can have on those things in a day, usually one hour in the morning and one hour after 4pm. Mainly this was because I noticed that if they spent too long playing these things, they were prone to being moody when they came off. The games they play can be quite intense and they just couldn't handle them for too long without getting wound up. Also, the wii and the ds are their very favourite things and if I didn't put limits on when and how long they could be used, then they'd just want to be on them all the time, sabotaging anything else I tried to do. And yes, I do know that from experience.
But, they've come a long way in the last year. They don't tantrum and fight when they stop playing anymore. Even my obsessive son can handle coming off the games now because he understands and trusts he will get to play again the next day. So I made a deal with them. They can play on these games longer, as long as they keep showing me that they can handle it. No tantrums when they come off, no fighting, no moodiness. Any sign of going back to that sort of behaviour, then we're cutting it back again.
So far, they've managed to handle it and I am really glad. We should all be allowed to do the stuff we like for a while, shouldn't we? Juts like I intend to piss around on the internet for the entirety of this morning, shouldn't we let out kids just go mad with their favourite things for a bit too?
The key is balance, I think, *she says, her protestant work ethic breaking through* I mean, before I came on the computer this morning I already did the shopping and housework, and I've got a load of washing in. Then this afternoon I'll work some more on the garden. It's not like I've gone crazy spending the entire day dossing around. And the same with the kids. I've got lots of creative, healing, useful, playful, bonding activities lined up for us to do over the summer, and we will do them. But, you know what, I don't think the earth will grind to a halt if my son spends an extra hour playing Mario Kart too.
I'm feeling a bit sorry for my husband right now. He works full time and he's only got one week off this whole summer. This used to make me feel guilty, but now I think, in honour of how lucky I am not to have to work, I'll just appreciate my time off instead. School's out... let's party! Or something a bit like that.
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