Kids outta school for summer....ahhhhh

Today is the dreaded last day of school...Dont get me wrong that I love my girls btw are 11 and soon to be 9... but when I dropped them off at school in the morning, i have this warm feeling rush over me that tells me i have 8 hrs of no whining,fighting,yelling,aggravating each other and so on.....Now I will go online and find things to do with them to keep them busy. I must admist giving them things to do that keeps them busy really helps and they feel like they did something that no one else can do and feel queen/king of the world. My girls love doing laundry....like sorting the clothes and starting the washing machine, putting the soap in there watching the bubbles come and then putting the clothes in there, then waiting to put them in the dryer, they feel like a lil ole mom. And running the vaccum sweeper is a must for them. Dusting is a good one to and giving them a bucket with a rag and washing down the walls, doors, door knobs. And the all time favorite round here is scrubbing the floor....Along with getting my house cleaned hehehehe they also love to do different craft projects....like building bird houses, painting different things and things like that....So to all the moms,dads,babysitters,grandparents and who ever watching the kids that get outta school soon my suggestions is to keep them busy and let them take a nap when ever they want.
I am also up for other suggestions if anyone has anything. It will be a long 2 1/2 months but alot of time spent with my girls is never a bad thing....


Char :o)

Can you come train my kids!!!! Well actually I kind of remember when they loved to help but now at 21 and 18 they grumble and mumble so much makes me almost want to do it myself (heavy on the almost) I am not suffering from empty nest syndrom yet but I can see it on the horizon.
Sandy

My 3 sons are grown now and my youngest will be graduating high school in about 2 weeks.

When they were young, summertime was their FUN TIME, even though it kept me busier in some ways. I learned early on that if I wanted to play with my own hobbies, I had to find hobbies for the boys, too.

Cotton Mosaics -- small cotton patchwork, gluestick, backing card-stock
Picture Collage -- small found items (fibers, tiny pebbles, dirt/sand, gems, stickers, leaves with a gluestick and backing card-stock
Fabric Crayons -- special crayons that heat-transfer designs to fabric, then sewn into small wall-quilts
Watercolors
Beading
Colored Markers and Reprint coloring books from Dover Publications
Baseball Card collections

Of course, they read, played games outside, puzzles, indoor games (chess, cards, etc) rode bicycles, and other typical things that country kids did.

Giving them the avenue for personal expression gave each of them the ability to know that they could make art and have hobbies.

Lynn,

I agree summertime is there fun time...however on those days when i get the "Mom i am bored", "Mom, got anything for me to do"..you know days like that....I will ALWAYS find something for them to...lol

We have until Friday before the minions are out for the summer.

Joy!

It's gonna be a lonnnnngggg hottttt summer.....

Wow, I can't believe you guys are already having the last day of school! My parents are empty nesters now, but my mom is a teacher and will begin her first day of summer one month from today. I won't tell her about you all-- she'd be really jealous!

Yeah, Danak, I was thinking the same thing! The kids here finish the last week of June and start again the first week of September.

Char: do your girls go back to school in August?

Rhonda

I never really heard the "I'm bored" line. There seemed to always be plenty of activity, toys, or a craft to dive into. We would 'import' a kid every so often, take a short day-trip, or a one-hour excursion to a park several times a week to break away. Some times we would go to an inexpensive matinee, too, and then there were the occasional trips to Grandma's where she'd spoil them rotten and fill them full of bad-things like ice creams and cookies.....

The girls of 9 and 11 years are ready to create poetry. Have them print words on index cards: one word per card. They can use cards on the floor to arrange word sequences to create poetry. It is similar to 'magnet poetry' that can be found in the expensive magnet boxed gifts in bookstores. My kids liked arranging words to have meaning that way.....often they created some very profound poems, too.

Our kids down here go back to school the last week of august this year....last year it was august 24th this year i think it is august 27th...and by then i will be so ready for them to go back...

I wanna get all you gals and guys opinion on something....Starting next year our school here are going to all uniforms...What do you think of children wearing them...Me personally think it is a excellent idea.

Char :o)

Friday is our last day - mine are 19 (he's been out of college since the first of May), 16 and 9. The 16 year old pretty much entertains himself (this summer will be the first year for a summer job), and gets his chores done without too much arm-twisting. The 9 year old (girl) helps mom around the house (it's still fun for her), has her own garden to tend this year, and for most of the summer has swim team practice for an hour each morning. She has a friend who lives next door, so there's usually somebody around to ride bikes or hang out with. (Hint: have your kids swim lap after lap after lap in an Olympic-sized pool for an hour each morning and they'll take afternoon naps like babies every day ;o)

I love for school to be out. In fact I was telling DH that this morning. I don't sleep in (quit that habit after the kids came long), so after I get him fed, lunch packed and off to work, I have an hour or two to myself before time to head to the pool. For ten weeks, I can forget the drill sargent routine it takes to poke and prod young'uns out of bed and through their morning routine, and out the door for school. I love (LOVE LOVE) summer break.

Wow, i sound like a good ole scrooge....I love my kids however i love my time alone without being bugged....My girls do do there own things....Friends and church and bible school and so on....And dont get me wrong I love not bugging them saying "it's time to get up" and hearing " mom please just five more minutes"....they are gonna be in 6th grade and 4th grade....and just learning that sleep is precious and go to bed when i tell you to cause it just gets harder and harder when you get older to get outta bed.


Char :o)

Terry, I found the same to be true with the boys. I could forget that 'routine' of early morning: shake 'em to wake 'em. The Sargeant-Mother didn't have to make orders for almost 3 months and I liked it that way.

Summer times meant swimming, and since we live near a few rivers with whitewater, I arranged private swimming lessons one summer that were more geared towards 'survival'. ( I was prepping them for some whitewater experiences and they needed to learn tough-water.) After a summer of learning and practicing, they learned basic kayaking and rafting because I kayak and raft in whitewater and wanted them to learn some of the basics so they'd go with me. A 200-acre lake is about 3 miles away, too, and between calm-water kayaking and lake fishing, I kept them 'occupied'.....And you are right -- when they're worn out, they sleep very well.

Now, they're 27, 20, and 18 and they're all indoor-boys -- they want nothing to do with anything outdoors.

RedPrincess, don't feel badly. If your need to have your own personal time is important, then arrange to have it. My personal time was very important to me so I would wake up at 3:30am each day when the boys were very young. That was MY TIME....I usually had 2-3 hours a day and I would either quilt or read. That was my sanity-time. I have always believed that we must remember 'self' to be 'selfless'.

Red I think uniforms are a great idea. Kids can be so cruel and uniforms give them one less thing to feel superior or inferior about. I went to private schools with uniforms until 8th grade you could not tell me (the kid from middle income family) from the Dr's kids.

edited to correct spelling errors (as usual)

This message was edited May 25, 2005 11:42 AM

This message was edited May 25, 2005 11:43 AM

Uniforms are a very good thing. It gives children one less thing to single others out for. It makes getting dressed in the morning very easy. It creates a sense of belonging to a group. I went to public school for 8 years and then to Catholic high school with uniforms. It took a little getting used to but I really think it is a good thing.

Char, I think the difference is that you have two in the same age range - and as a very wise older woman once told me, when it comes to kids, one is nuthin' and two are ten. (Think about it....it's very true - taking care of one child is much easier than managing the dynamics and rivalry that comes with two or more.)

Plus mine are so spread out age-wise, and at this point two-thirds of them are nearly grown, so I have *my* time year-round. (Otherwise I'd be bemoaning the end of school, too!)

Terry and all,

Thanks for making me feel better....I was feeling like such a prude after reading what i wrote. However I think that there are plenty of parents/guardians out there that feel the way I do.
I am looking of crafts and such for kids to do....my youngest is already interested in houseplants like me...I find her talking to them like I do hehehe....And i also took her to the library today and she gots lots of books to read and one called "what a 4th grader needs to know" she said she wants to get all A's next year (instead of a couple B's) so she is getting a head start..lol I said well sweetie you just got outta school yesterday dont rush yourself...you need to just take a break and give your brain a break. So now she is out on the front porch playing her guitar or as she likes to say it gooo-tar.....I went and took a pic real fast..what a proud momma i am...anyway hope you all have a wonderful summer


Char :o)

She is adorable! Enjoy your summer! Josephine.