Productivity Tuesday: Time Fillers for a Long Day with Your Child

Let’s just be honest here. For those of us who are not used to having our elementary school-aged children at home throughout the day, trying to come up with activities to keep our children purposefully busy can be somewhat challenging. And when I say purposefully, I’m referring to keeping our children busy outside of recreational electronics. After all, I’m guessing that most of our kiddos would happily oblige us by entertaining themselves all day; but in reality, we (parents/guardians) ain’t gonna let that happen.

Anyway, let me get to the point of this post by moving forward with the productivity part of the matter. What if I told you that having your child at home all day could make your to-do list lighter in some areas? Well, it’s true, you know. Yes, this can REALLY happen, if everything aligns just right. And what I mean is your child will have to be age-appropriate to help out in some of these fundamental ways I’ll be suggesting. So, if the shoe fits, wear it proudly, my dear friend.

Here are three real-life examples that happened to me yesterday and I immediately knew I had to share them with you today. Feel free to use them daily.

1. I got a genius idea (I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s had it) . . . anyway, I had a “genius” idea to have Little Man help me make his pancakes yesterday morning. He normally isn’t in a position to do so during the school year, because we’re both scrambling to get him ready so we can make it to the bus stop on time. Therefore, I normally take sole ownership of the breakfast duties in the morning. Well, since we don’t have that scenario to deal with for the remainder of the school year, I have free reign to place him in a “cooking assistant” position. He helped add the ingredients to the pancake mix and whisked the batter up for me. I did the griddle portion of the cooking. Even though Little Man is 9 going on 10, I’m still not comfortable with him handling hot appliances just yet. So, I would suggest exercising discretionary caution when it comes to getting your child’s help in the kitchen. Have him/her do those steps that can be successfully completed without harming him/herself or adding more work for you.
2. I’ve created a simple schedule for Little Man and used it for the first time yesterday. For the hour block assigned for his reading instruction, we ended up finishing before the hour was up. And since I was trying out this new schedule, I wanted to stick with it for at least one full day and see where we ended up. So, instead of letting Little Man move on to the next item on the agenda (ahead of time), I had him help me fold clothes for about 15 minutes, until it was time to start his math instruction in the next hour block. Another genius idea, right? I had clothes to fold and put up and a little help could only make my laundry duties shrink for size. (NOTE: if you want to make a full work day work, don’t let your child try to hurry through the day and get all the school assignments done one right after the other. Spread your day out by instituting some breaks and keep on course with your schedule or you might find your child completing all school work assignments by noon. Then, what are you going to do with your little sweetheart the rest of the day?
3. I was on a roll and came up with genius plan number 3: combining chores into the physical activity for the day. I had totally planned on taking Little Man for a walk yesterday afternoon (right after lunch). And, I had already decided that it would be just as beneficial a physical activity for me as it would be for him. But, I got out of it. How? Well, I was informed by Little Man that my husband mentioned (on Sunday) that he wanted him to help his sister pull the weeds out of the flower beds. And there you go . . . Little Man’s physical education would come in the form of completing some gardening. And the upside?: Mom wouldn’t have to do this outside chore because her kiddos were on the job. Yippee!!! (I also got out of walking, too. Hee. Hee.)

Now, I know it appears that I enjoy having my babies around because I get free labor out of them, but that’s not the case. It’s definitely a side benefit, but it’s not the true reason I enjoy having them at home. I love them, and I want them safe and protected and healthy. It gives me peace of mind to know I can be with them in this chaotic time in the world. I count it a privilege to have all three of my children home with me and it’s been an absolute blessing to have their help as well. I’m trying not to get too used to it though.

Tip of the Week: Instead of giving an actual tip, per se, I thought I’d remind you to enjoy those little moments of humor in your life. In times like these, it helps to have those bright spots come along and bring some light to your day. Here was one of those moments for me:

My conversation with Little Man (while he was assisting me with folding and putting away the clean clothes):

Little Man: “I feel uncomfortable.”

Mom: “What do you mean uncomfortable?”

Little Man: “I feel uncomfortable in my body.”

Mom: “Well, you weren’t uncomfortable when you were downstairs playing video games the other day. What’s wrong with you?”

Little Man: “I’m not used to standing this long. Playing video games is my hobby. I’m a gamer.”

(This is what happens when you let your nine-year-old veg out on technology for two weeks. Nothing good comes from that. Take it from me.:))