Speed Life

I have been having problems "fitting it all in" lately. Just the after school stuff really. From when the four older kids get off the bus at 3:30 until bedtime (I shoot for 8) everything is nonstop. Snacks, homework, dinner, cleanup, baths, toothbrushing, stories, bed. I rarely actually make 8. But the later I get them in bed the worse the next morning is. Cleanup almost always happens after bed, and more often than I care to admit to, the bedtime stories don't happen.

All these responsibilities are even heavier when my Jes decides that she is going to act like a whiny, goopy, incapable youngster. She is very smart and capable, but she will close her mind and cry, and whine and goop - from every facial orifice, all the while telling me it is too hard. I was talking to my best friend the other night and she suggested that Jes is trying to get one-on-one attention. And while it ends up being negative, it is indeed one-on-one. This had occurred to me but I didn't know how to go about fixing it. Bex offered me a terrific suggestion, set a timer for a reasonable amount of time for her homework. If she finishes in that amount of time, we play a game, one-on-one. This of course has it's own challenges, how does a mom of 6 a. find the time for a game b. keep it with just Jes and c. not end up starting this with all the other kiddos.

But, we are trying it out. So far, the homework is going much better! The first night Jes wanted to play the game of Life. That is NOT a quick game. I was working solo, as is often the case. So, I am trying to fit in the game and get kids to bed on time. We made some alterations in the game to speed it along. We don't stop, we just throw the spouse in the car at the end of the turn, or buy the house at the end of the turn, etc. With "Speed Life" we can do a game in about 20 minutes. Tonight Jes chose Go Fish. Much better choice! But... (you knew there would be a but!) the other kids are figuring out that she has been playing games with mom and want in on the action. Brandy and Josh asked to play Life. Turns into a four person game, even with "Speed Life" with four people it take close to 40 minutes. I got them in bed more than 30 minutes late.

About half way through the game Brandy says "I like real Life better than Speed Life." Me too baby, me too!

I still need to find a way to fit everything in those few brief hours, but now I realize that I need to slow down too. One doesn't see the goose on the roof if you don't take time to look around.