Dear Families,
September really flew by didn’t it? It seems the lazy days of summer came to a screeching halt and were replaced by the fast paced world of school schedules, work demands and the ever present stress of what’s for dinner? And yet my volunteer days at ICNS have been a welcome reprieve. I find myself in a zen state as I watch the children play, discover, and enjoy one another. It’s peaceful and calming, kind of therapeutic in fact. Even when there is discord, there is a willingness to forgive, followed by rebuilding and sharing. If this can happen with 20 kids, why can’t I keep that magic alive at home with 2?
At home, there is a large portion of the day dedicated to fussing, crying and begging for TV or me to play with them-mostly in the afternoon. I oscillate between feeling guilty for not "playing" with my kids enough and being overwhelmed with the dishes and laundry piling up. So in an attempt to enjoy and find peace in my home life as much as my time at ICNS, I’m going to put into practice the 3 obvious things the preschool has that I don’t: (1) volunteers who have set everything else aside for a block of time, (2) purposeful play (think child decorated invitations from school), and (3) fabulous and inviting displays and areas for discovery, like the pizzeria or the fish tank. The first one I thought would be the hardest. But it turns out that unplugging (setting aside the phone, computer and all outside demands) for a block of time each day made my work time more productive and focused my "family time" on enjoying one another. Now this doesn’t mean I become the sole entertainment but we do things that are fun for all of us and the boys have my full attention. Today we played "monster" (Finns choice),Taboo (Cks choice) and flipped thru this months family fun magazine together (my choice). Next, I am trying to make household chores more play based. Yesterday we had an epic sock bomb battle as I finally sorted and matched a years worth of "missing" socks, launching them at the boys as I rolled them together. Instead of focusing on how much WORK there is to do, I’m concentrating on what would be most fun for all of us.
September really flew by didn’t it? It seems the lazy days of summer came to a screeching halt and were replaced by the fast paced world of school schedules, work demands and the ever present stress of what’s for dinner? And yet my volunteer days at ICNS have been a welcome reprieve. I find myself in a zen state as I watch the children play, discover, and enjoy one another. It’s peaceful and calming, kind of therapeutic in fact. Even when there is discord, there is a willingness to forgive, followed by rebuilding and sharing. If this can happen with 20 kids, why can’t I keep that magic alive at home with 2?
At home, there is a large portion of the day dedicated to fussing, crying and begging for TV or me to play with them-mostly in the afternoon. I oscillate between feeling guilty for not "playing" with my kids enough and being overwhelmed with the dishes and laundry piling up. So in an attempt to enjoy and find peace in my home life as much as my time at ICNS, I’m going to put into practice the 3 obvious things the preschool has that I don’t: (1) volunteers who have set everything else aside for a block of time, (2) purposeful play (think child decorated invitations from school), and (3) fabulous and inviting displays and areas for discovery, like the pizzeria or the fish tank. The first one I thought would be the hardest. But it turns out that unplugging (setting aside the phone, computer and all outside demands) for a block of time each day made my work time more productive and focused my "family time" on enjoying one another. Now this doesn’t mean I become the sole entertainment but we do things that are fun for all of us and the boys have my full attention. Today we played "monster" (Finns choice),Taboo (Cks choice) and flipped thru this months family fun magazine together (my choice). Next, I am trying to make household chores more play based. Yesterday we had an epic sock bomb battle as I finally sorted and matched a years worth of "missing" socks, launching them at the boys as I rolled them together. Instead of focusing on how much WORK there is to do, I’m concentrating on what would be most fun for all of us.
Lastly, I discovered quite by accident the effectiveness of simply
grouping and displaying toys they already have. I set aside all the old
baby board books, the ones with one picture/word per page, planning
to store them in the garage. I managed to get them in a box but forgot
to take them downstairs. The boys "discovered" the box and read them
over and over for hours. The same books were completely ignored when
they were inches away on a shelf, but there was something "new" about
them being regrouped in that box. Same thing with their coloring books.
I simply moved them into the kitchen with their markers spread on the
table and started making dinner. The boys hunted me down ready to
barrage me with requests as they always do in the 5:00 hour and literally
stopped mid sentence when they noticed the books. They immediately
went to town coloring and we enjoyed each others company as we all
worked on our separate activities.
It seems structuring & scheduling our time together like that frees us
to be more carefree. It’s not the whole day, but its turned the hardest hours into something to look forward to. I’d love to have more ideas on fun ways to "play" together.
Send me your ideas at elfwagner@gmail.com
Eva Wagner - President
It seems structuring & scheduling our time together like that frees us
to be more carefree. It’s not the whole day, but its turned the hardest hours into something to look forward to. I’d love to have more ideas on fun ways to "play" together.
Send me your ideas at elfwagner@gmail.com
Eva Wagner - President
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