Big Job Ahead

I have a big job ahead of me.  Well, possibly several.  Today marked the first weekday of my children's summer vacation proper and we've told them they would be responsible for an hour's worth of schoolwork each day.  Plus reading.  Or maybe it was an hour of reading could count as their schoolwork, instead?  I'm not completely sure and my husband and I need to get our acts together and make some firm decisions about what we're requiring them to do during the summer.

My daughter isn't here today but is instead visiting with Nana and Papa and from the pictures and texts we've been receiving, she's having a grand old time.  My husband has been working on a computer project that's taken hours of work for each of the last several days and so he and I let today slide with my son.   And that meant there were a lot of screens happening on my son's end.

I just lost my temper at my son.   Rather badly, I might add.   My husband always backs me up but sometimes he doesn't like the intensity of my anger.  In this case, I'd had it.  My son had been yelling at his father, ignoring screen time stop times by overrunning them, saying he needed to finish the quest or he didn't realize or oops, he forgot and was back on the iPad or watching videos on Alexa—even during lunch when we were trying to talk to him.   I realize the neverending news and interest flashes that come up on Alexa can be tempting to any of us, but my son lacks the ability to manage his impulse to look at the screen.  We just turned Alexa around at lunch and then had a nice time.

So tomorrow we are going to hopefully have some kind of structure.   We need to get to talking about it tonight hopefully or in the morning with the children, ideally, so they can be part of the plan.  It's always better when they have input and buy-in because they are more likely to want to comply.

I have another project I need to work on with the children (for Father's Day, shhh, don't tell their father) as well as a long-standing computer assignment I've made for myself that will be interesting if I ever get started, but not unlike many things in life, I've been putting off.

Keeping busy this summer is one of our biggest challenges what with the lack of friends to play with or summer camps to attend.   We'll see how well we fare.   Thankfully there are many companies and people posting ideas to keep children busy.   The Internet can be a very helpful place.

The Big Boy Update:  My son is in purgatory right now.   He is reading an hour's worth of book from his current book—which he can easily finish—and then possibly his next book that we think he will hate until he actually starts reading, just like everything else with him.   After losing my temper at him and going into Military Mom mode he's calmed down.   I expect him to listen the first time and not the third or fourth going forward.   It's going to be tough for him for a bit, but I don't mind the challenge.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter has been learning French today, has had her hair put up in a beautiful bun by Nana, and has made both a cake and cupcakes, some of which she'll be bringing home with her today.  Just like every time the children go to visit Nana and Papa, she's not going to want to come home.