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Category: Life Issues : Parenting
Prepare Yourself
The first thing to remember about kids and rainy days is that a sense of humor is a necessity. If you can not laugh or at least smile at the little darlings attempt to use the cat to dry the floor, then the rest of this how to article is not for you. If the little angels do attempt to use the cat as a mop, the first thing to do is rescue the cat, the second thing is provide Band-Aids for the inevitable scratches.
Since your survival is of paramount importance, here are a few ideas, feel free to modify them to meet your needs and tolerance levels. Children are by nature noisy and messy. Some people say that they do not become human until they have apartments of their own, I personally think it is not until they have children of their own. The idea is to keep those precious jewels from causing havoc, and/or causing you to self-destruct in the process.
We as adults have several options of what to do with a rainy day. We can clean house, we can read a favorite book, we can even watch a movie but as soon as you add children to this, any of these become impossible. Children on the other hand have very few choices; they can run around in the house and make a bigger mess than the last big tornado in the mid-west. They can practice drum lessons on your glass topped table, which is going to cause your blood pressure to rise dangerously, necessitating a trip to the hospital for you and possibly them when you get finished with them. All of the above choices are very expensive.
The ideal solution would be if we said go do something quiet and leave me alone and they actually did. As anyone with children knows, this is not going to happen, our little saints in training will not hear the words quiet or alone. If we on the other hand give them tasks suited to their ages and their need to create havoc then we will have won the battle, or at least gained a little reprieve to collapse in a heap.
Tips
Let them cook. Now this only works if either you can help, or they are old enough to work independently in the kitchen without causing the fire alarms to go off in the entire neighborhood. I suggest homemade bread, they can pound on the dough to their delight, and you can just pretend to eat their masterpiece. A large batch of cookies is also a good choice (a large batch being defined as one that makes enough cookies to feed all of the girl-scouts in your state). Be prepared to spend several hours cleaning up the kitchen when they have finished being chefs.
Have them practice their art skills. Provide a tile floor and plenty of paper and paints and then get out of the room. When they are done they can practice painting the floor with a heavy-duty floor cleaner and your mop (make sure the cat is no where in sight during this operation).
This can lead to another activity, pretending to be giants, but you have to walk carefully or you will break things. Giants in the bath is fun and will help get the paint out of their hair, and from underneath their fingernails. The Bathroom will, of course, need cleaning when they are done, but do not allow your giants to do this. Experience has shown that they will make a bigger mess than what they originally set out to clean up.
If it has stopped raining outside, then the next activity is to send them outside, to play. If as is usually the case it is still raining you will need to have another activity for them.
I recommend naps for everyone. If this is not a practical idea, because of age or energy levels (theirs not yours) then try dress up.
Take all of your mending, a few scarves and a belt or two combine some very soothing music, I recommend Brahms lullaby. You should have a fairly quiet activity that will allow you to finish cleaning up the kitchen and the bathroom and possibly, if your little spirits are cooperative get started on your mending. It is out anyway, so you might as well take advantage of it.
You are now, hopefully ending a very busy day, and have managed to get your house cleaned, your mending done, the little heavenly bodies bathed and somewhere along the line fed. Now for the best part, send them to bed. You need your rest, because the weatherman just forecast heavy thunderstorms for tomorrow.
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ckeeta |
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A day care provider, and a mother of 3. |
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