To bathe or not to Bathe
The endless question that must be addressed in our house on a daily basis is the issue of when or when not to bathe. Are there standards out there that I am not aware of? Well, let’s see…if it has rained and my son had indoor recess, then he does not have to bathe. If he had outdoor recess and it rained, then somehow the rain must have washed everything off and again, he does not have to bathe. If it is Saturday and we stayed indoors, then that counts as a no bath day also.

Then there is the endless task of trying to remember if we washed hair last night. We wash hair every other night in our house. For some reason when it is left up to my son, well then we definitely washed it last night.

All of this is in the name of routines. One thing I have learned from being a parent is that routines are the only way to go. We started out with no routines in the beginning and quickly realized that it was not going to work. We were free spirits that did things on the spur of the moment without any boundaries. We did not need a routine or much else for that matter. We had no scheduled bed times and bathed whenever.

One morning I woke up and realized how hectic and chaotic our life was. It was really difficult to get the kids to bed and we all played musical beds each night. It took us a while to figure out what was wrong. Once we figured it out, we began to put rules and routines in place.

We started with a scheduled bed time and most importantly, everyone slept in their own beds. We also tried to take baths at the same time each night. All of a sudden after a few weeks, I noticed things were much calmer and more organized. The kids behaved better and we all slept better. Another rule we put in place was eating dinner at the table together without the TV on. I have to admit, this was a hard rule to follow. We continue to work on this one even now.

Time has passed and my kids are older. Zachary is now in fifth grade and Lindsey will be in fourth next year. Our priorities have changed and we have a lot more on our plates: baseball and cheerleading practice, spelling words and phonograms, reading logs and ballet. It takes work and some serious juggling to be on a schedule with all these things. But being on the schedule is what makes it all work. My kids know what to expect and when to expect it. Every now and then we run into a kink, but most of the time we sail smoothly.

One more thing we did that I think made a difference is sharing our intentions with our children. They know what a routine is. They also know how to set goals and how important it is that we follow these routines and try to meet our goals. I strongly believe in including our children in family discussions and decisions within reason. On Sunday nights, sometimes Zachary is the one that remembers we need to study spelling. And Lindsey has an inner clock that tells her it is time to take a bath. Sure our kids still sleep with us and things don’t always work out the way we plan them. But one thing is for sure, we will always be able to get back on track.
 
There are no Pictures available
Posted by Amy @ 5:29:08 PM - 1/21/2009


To bathe or not to Bathe
The endless question that must be addressed in our house on a daily basis is the issue of when or when not to bathe. Are there standards out there that I am not aware of? Well, let’s see…if it has rained and my son had indoor recess, then he does not have to bathe. If he had outdoor recess and it rained, then somehow the rain must have washed everything off and again, he does not have to bathe. If it is Saturday and we stayed indoors, then that counts as a no bath day also.

Then there is the endless task of trying to remember if we washed hair last night. We wash hair every other night in our house. For some reason when it is left up to my son, well then we definitely washed it last night.

All of this is in the name of routines. One thing I have learned from being a parent is that routines are the only way to go. We started out with no routines in the beginning and quickly realized that it was not going to work. We were free spirits that did things on the spur of the moment without any boundaries. We did not need a routine or much else for that matter. We had no scheduled bed times and bathed whenever.

One morning I woke up and realized how hectic and chaotic our life was. It was really difficult to get the kids to bed and we all played musical beds each night. It took us a while to figure out what was wrong. Once we figured it out, we began to put rules and routines in place.

We started with a scheduled bed time and most importantly, everyone slept in their own beds. We also tried to take baths at the same time each night. All of a sudden after a few weeks, I noticed things were much calmer and more organized. The kids behaved better and we all slept better. Another rule we put in place was eating dinner at the table together without the TV on. I have to admit, this was a hard rule to follow. We continue to work on this one even now.

Time has passed and my kids are older. Zachary is now in fifth grade and Lindsey will be in fourth next year. Our priorities have changed and we have a lot more on our plates: baseball and cheerleading practice, spelling words and phonograms, reading logs and ballet. It takes work and some serious juggling to be on a schedule with all these things. But being on the schedule is what makes it all work. My kids know what to expect and when to expect it. Every now and then we run into a kink, but most of the time we sail smoothly.

One more thing we did that I think made a difference is sharing our intentions with our children. They know what a routine is. They also know how to set goals and how important it is that we follow these routines and try to meet our goals. I strongly believe in including our children in family discussions and decisions within reason. On Sunday nights, sometimes Zachary is the one that remembers we need to study spelling. And Lindsey has an inner clock that tells her it is time to take a bath. Sure our kids still sleep with us and things don’t always work out the way we plan them. But one thing is for sure, we will always be able to get back on track.
 
There are no Pictures available
Posted by Amy @ 5:29:08 PM - 1/21/2009


Gracie
Our puppy Gracie was hit by a car last weekend. We had to take her to the emergency vet because it was Sunday. She had a compound fracture on her right back leg and she broke some of her teeth out. After surgery, we brought her home. The cast has to stay on for 4 weeks. Poor Gracie. 
dog
dog
dog
dog
dog
Posted by Amy @ 3:27:25 PM - 1/6/2009



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