This is time for the kids to try to settle down to rest-little ones take naps-sometimes if its a super great day, 4 of them nap at the same time~!!! wooohooo! Usually it is Lil' Lady , my 3 yr old adrenaline running boy, and 4 yr old 'too big for a daily nap but still needs a few naps a week" boy.
The others rest by looking at books, listening to books on CD, drawing, or they (try) to play quietly downstairs.
This is also my time to regroup and rest. I overlook the toys and clothes strewn throughout the house. I overlook the left out lunch on the counters and on the kitchen floor and the overflowing trash. I make time for me. I have to. This is my survival and thrival technique. I close my bedroom door over a little and just plop down exhausted, sometimes even in a big pile of clean laundry. I close my eyes in hopes to actually catch a few zzzz's if possible. Then if I can, with a cup of tea in hand, I try to catch up on emails, blogs, phone calls. Before the little ones wake, I begin to make dinner or at least have the idea of what I will make.
When I share this, many moms and others look at me in awe that I can do this.
For me, it has ALWAYS been this way. With my first child was almost one yrs old, another seasoned mom of 6 told me that I had to do this. For me to try not to give up his nap too early and if he did (which he as 2 when he did), to continue to put him in his room or crib with tons of books for quiet time. This was the BEST ADVICE that I ever got!!!
This nap time was crucial. And boy, is she right. It is~!
I really wonder how moms do it these days without down time. With a busy life, in order to keep an energy level at a decent (not always top notch!) level, this is so necessary for me.
This is not all the quiet beautiful time of rest everyday. Many times in a day, I may come out of my room or off the couch to remind them how and what "QUIET" is supposed to be like! Many days, they get so wrapped up in playing (since they are schooling most of the morning) that their level of quiet certainly is NOT the same as mine.
During this time, my oldest son, who is in 5th grade, has to be constantly reminded to do his school work and how much he can accomplish when the little ones are not around him, bothering him, or being loud. This quiet time is the best he has to get focused...yet, it is so tough for him. Poor kid. It's hard to see his younger siblings playing or reading or drawing-just what he really wants to do.
Any advice: How do YOU get the point across to a kid
that he is older so ...he has more school work expected?
Anyway, long story short.... today after I got up after a little rest, I called for my oldest in which he did not respond. He was not in the extra room doing school work or doing his science lab experiment or his reading comprehension. Nope. His sisters told me he was in the backyard. When he came in, I ask him where he was and how he got out there, since he did not exit and re-enter through the deck door.
Head tilted and quietly, he glanced at me and said "Uh....through the basement bathroom window..."
"Why?" I questioned him.
"Uh....Because I am a boy?"
Best explanation. Good reason. But still....
God bless,
Mary
