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We've had family rolling in yesterday and today for the funeral; some have to stay home for sickness. One of my sisters came all by herself. Just the car ride must have felt like a vacation. I wondered if she had made a recording of the kids fighting so she wouldn't feel so lonely. She didn't.
Kal and Kara have e-learning to do this week. E-don't-know-what-to-do. E-sick-of-it. They are chugging along getting it done. I have to slow them down sometimes to think through a problem instead of clicking on any answer. I enjoy seeing the light bulb come on when they understand a concept!
Our extra week off going to school is filled with the kids going to the shop with me. We lightened the load this week for the funeral, but I can't just stop right now. Kal and Kara just love going to my shop for the day.
I imagine them telling their kids one day to suck it up because they lived to tell about their days at Mom's boring shop and life isn't all fun and games.
So when the kids are done with eek-learning for the day, what ways can we enjoy the day?
(This is the part where I cut and paste a portion of another writing from last week for the Indy Mompreneurs blog: https://indymombosses.com/.)
Here’s my quick list of how we may occupy the time apart from the screens. For reference, my children are 11- and 9-years-old:
Read. My kids love to read, so this is an easy one.
Paint. I have to close my eyes and just let the mess begin. This is mainly my daughter’s interest, and she has guidelines, like cover the painting surface with anything that we can throw away.
Beads and Bands. More crafting time. My daughter loves arts and crafts, and I’m sure the bracelet makings will come out.
Basketball or soccer. Our son has new sports balls. He’s outside all the time shooting hoops, and kicking his soccer ball into the goal.
Make cookies. And eat cookies.
Clean the house. This hasn’t made the list of favorite activities, but it is on the to-do list. We already have a chart of things that need to be done every day and chores that are farther apart, such as once per week.
Make a fort. Make one inside if it’s rainy, outside if it’s not. We have a strip of woods at our house, so the sticks are plentiful. There are all sorts of creations waiting to be made from tree junk.
Play board games. My kids like to call them bored games. Either way, they are a fun way to connect with each other.
Solve puzzles. Metal finger puzzles, Rubik’s cubes, crosswords, word search, jigsaw, etc.
Make a treasure hunt. Instead of the usual treasure hunt for clean pants and the right shoes, this can be a fun hunt for random things with a treat at the end.
Build a Lego city. We have enough Legos to build a full-scale city. These are great to build engineering and problem-solving skills.
Make a marble run. Use Legos, all those empty toilet paper rolls, boxes, bottles, and any other junk from around the house that would be useful to that end.
Make a dollhouse. I made a dollhouse from a box when I was a child. I used junk (I don’t mean to repeat that word so much!) from around the house to make furnishings. I had better dollhouses later, but the most fun I ever had with a dollhouse was with that ugly box. My eyes saw it as a grand mansion, and that’s all that mattered.
Carve sticks and wood. Our son always has to be moving his hands, and carving is something fun for him. I taught him the proper way to hold the knife, and he has been able to carve sticks. Even though there is the potential for a finger cut, I know he’ll never learn to hold a knife unless he’s allowed to try it. Smaller risks for smaller fingers.
Kids’ night where they plan and make dinner. Just eat it, and don’t make faces. Enjoy the effort and love that goes into it.