{a day to check in with a 9 yr old’s doings}
I read somewhere the other day that ‘we need to come up with activities to keep the kids busy right now while they are not in school’ – hmmmm, I have my doubts about this kind of system that doesn’t allow or foster children to be their own little imaginative selves or that we need to somehow always ‘entertain’ them. Granted we are situated in a way that allows our child to be relatively feral.
I’m sure many of you are trying to juggle working from home and parenting full time which is a real struggle (I live that every day, I get it) and for those of you with multiple children, my heart goes out to you. Now is a good time to look at how we interact with each other and make sure we’re extra gentle – with our children, too. It’s hard to be growing and confused and then have your schedule dismantled. We might see a few days ‘down’ to readjust as a good thing – our adult slacking capabilities kick right in – like a mini vacation. But they don’t have that understanding quite yet – doing ‘nothing’ isn’t nearly as interesting to them. And that’s when the crazy can sometimes begin.
If possible, get them outside – where they can get fresh air, vitamin D, and be crazy. Here it’s Mud Season – and though that might not excite some of you – most of them love it. Mud is super sensory and is better than play-doh for making people, houses, monsters, mudgloos decorated with sticks and leaves – or fairy house building for Spring faeries with berries and milkweed fluff. Outdoor ball games, bike riding, a walk in the woods – mud tracking (though our woods still have snow), seeing if anybody is waking up, plant/tree identification. And yes, some of these activities require your attention but is that such a bad thing – with all the crazy, you could probably use a little play and fresh air, too.
Right now our inside play looks like Tinker crates (Kiwi sets – she made a ‘lava lamp’ this week), puzzles, games, baking and cooking, seed starting, and my favorite distraction for my child when I really need to focus – a bath. Give my kid some scissors, string, and cardboard and she remakes the world. A little paint and WOWZA – art everywhere; not such a bad thing. And every now and again, we need to all stop (as a family) whatever we are doing and have a dance party! It just has to happen, pretty much every day.
Stay sane people.
Rock Bottom Homestead 