Sunday, August 21, 2011

Resisting the routine

Ok. I know I'm not the only mom that does this. Summer comes and bedtime gets pushed a little further. Wake-up time gets a little later. There are more sleepovers. Things get a little more lax around the house. Then as the school start date gets closer, I attempt to get back on track and that always comes with much resistance.

Hey, can I blame them? What's not to love about the unstructured, lazy days of summer? If I was 8 or 10 or 12 years old, I'd probably choose to play video games as much as I could and stay up as late as I could. It's just a lot of aggravation for a mother to return to the school routine after a long summer with no homework and no school bells.

One thing that does improve in my favor during the summer months is more chores for the kids. I get more help because they are home more. They have more time to help. And they are making more messes while they're home.

One week to go until school starts. I've instituted the school bedtime again, but for minutes - sometimes hours - after they are tucked in, they stray back in - hungry, thirsty, having to use the washroom, having to tell me something important. I have to start early...we'll see what progress I've made by next weekend.

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