Do you suddenly find yourself homebound with all the kiddos under one roof? Are you paralyzed with fears that you aren’t capable of keeping them busy and occupied without putting them in front of the tv, computer or phone? Listen, I want you to know that as mom, grandma, or whatever capacity you find yourself serving children in right now, you CAN do this. You are perfectly capable of doing well and treating these ones in your care well. Here’s a couple of ideas for how to achieve this!
1. Home Economics! Bake, Cook, & Clean
All those life skills that we are usually too busy to make time for. Bake the breads and muffins and cakes, Cook the dinners and lasagnes and other dishes, and clean the nooks and crannies together.
2. Fine Arts – writing, art, music
Again, these are the things that we don’t always have time to enjoy. Have the kids journal their thoughts, their ideas, paint, sculpt, create and play. This is a great time to place emphasis on these creative forms of expression that also make us appreciate beauty, and allow children to express their feelings in safe ways.
3. Banking & Budgeting
Increasingly this falls under the less important skills when we are busy with school but guess what you need your kids to learn before they are young adults flying the nest. Take some time now and explain the how banking works, how to fill out a deposit slip, how to budget for their expenses and how to determine how much they have to spend each month.
4. Keeping their rooms, paperwork, sports gear organized
Now is a great time to have them sort, organize and keep all the things in order. Time on their hands can be useful rather than just vegging out in front of the tv set.
5. Keeping up conversations and talking through disagreements.
Increasingly our society struggles in having conversations with differing opinions. This is a great time to take advantage of understanding what the kiddos are thinking. If they are a bit older, maybe challenge them to think through their positions on different subjects by offering different opinions. I think it’s important for children to understand different perspectives than their own and to be ok with agreeing to disagree.
Bonus - teach a new hobby!
Maybe you knit or sew or crochet or golf. It doesn’t matter which, but take the time to teach the kids a new skill. If you get stuck, find a youtube video to help you get to the next step. Teach them the things you know even if they may not seem interested. You’ll be surprised how much these skills come back around again.