Look Out I'm Parenting Here! Getting Through The Day Chapter 6: Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

Assign a chore to everyone

Reading this section of Ted's book made me kind of wince at first. The last thing I want to do after a long day at work, and then picking up kids, is to come home to MORE work. It started to make sense when Ted mentioned how home should be a "sanctuary for rest and to rejuvenate the spirit[...]". The way it gets to be like this is usually through work, upkeep, cleaning, and maintenance. Essentially, your child should be doing these tasks along with you in order to feel more invested in the home. Chores are a great way to instill ownership in your children. Its not just about taking benefits from a home, but also contributing to the benefits so other people in the house get the same benefits.

Ted states that chores should be things that not only benefit the child, but things that benefit the family as a whole. Tasks such as getting the mail, or folding napkins can help out everybody in the household and teach your children the benefits of doing things for the community. It gives them a sense of what family is, which will be important for when they grow and try to start a family of their own

Take 10 to "chill"

Ok, NOW is finally the time to chill. It is important to note, that this is to be done AFTER chores. Honestly, it will feel better to relax with nothing to do after your rest. However, there is a certain way that parents can go about having downtime with their kids. Ted states in his book that you should take time to lounge with your children in an area where there are no distractions. To me, this means television, phones, tablets, etc. The reason for this is that the family in this time period is going to be focused on each other and not any of those distractions. As your kids grow older, you are going to be physically holding them less and less as compared to when they were just infants. When relaxing and being in close contact with your children, Ted states that this will show your kids that the connection between you and them is still present. Hence, the need for no distractions during this time. I know it will be hard, but no distractions! Bonding time...

Let them play while you work

Children might start to get antsy after a quick unplug. That's ok, let them play! You can start to work on some things (that side hustle business you are starting possibly?) and allow the children out of your presence to have some fun. It is important to allow your children the freedom to roam and create their own adventure. Now Ted does say this period should be free of harm and destruction. Basically, your kids should still be safe, but have the freedom to express whatever they want. This gets the creative juices flowing and gets your kids thinking outside the box. Ted would actually give his kids a blank sheet of paper and coloring utensils. This way, they could draw whatever came to mind and create something from nothing. One other thing that should be tempered during this time is technology. Ted brings up the potential for over-relying on television to be a baby sitter for your kids. Its not just for the fact that the content could be potentially inappropriate, but also they are not usually putting their mind to work while they are sitting there watching. We definitely can use things like a TV or a computer to our advantage to learn tremendous things, but there is a balance to it. Trust me, I use YouTube to learn and get up to date on certain subjects, but also to just watch clips of "The Sopranos"..