Grand plans

-
Last year we did too much.  We had no day of the week that we weren't up early, with someone rushing out the house for something or another.  We felt tired and we had no energy to hang out with our kids.  We'd just plonk the TV on after dinner and watch some reality show together.  It wasn't terrible and often quite fun, but we didn't spend much time talking to each other or reading together.

Now that I'm working and get home late two nights a week, and Rowan has two or three nights out every week with regular commitments and Aidan will have youth group one night a week, we are only left with one night a week that we can actually connect properly.

It means that every day is looking full and we just need to slow down.  We feel more and more disconnected from each other when school term is on and this is not why we had a family.

So we're thinking about cutting out Saturday sport.  The early Saturday mornings in winter, going in two different directions almost killed us.  It feels unAustralian to cull sport but they will still be able to play competitive sport in school teams.  We're thinking of using the time to all go to the pool together so that the younger two kids can finally get swimming lessons.

And I'm thinking that we're going to pretty much ban screen time during the school terms - including the weekends -  (for the kids and ourselves) so that we regain that time and I go to bed earlier.  I just need more sleep.  Wish I could operate on 4 hours a night, but I can't.

It's still going to be insanely busy (we only have about three free nights in February) but we have to be ruthless to protect our family time.

I'm quite fond of the old TV, so I'll let you know how I go, but I suspect I won't miss it too much once we get out of the habit.

Grand plans ...

Comments

Karen said…
Please keep us posted on how you go with that, Jenny! It sounds great though.
We don't do weekend sport here (although I have been eyeing off a Friday evening touch football competition for later in the year) but we do do swimming lessons one afternoon each week (#1 in a swim training squad, #2 in learn to swim class) and that seems to work quite well. It has in the past been a great opportunity to read books too....not so much now that I have a toddler again, but soon enough she will be learning to swim and then my reading hour will return!
January 31, 2011 at 6:19 PM
Sandra said…
Our problem is we really, really need sport and lots of it - high activity children who were not nice as toddlers if they weren't kept active, and are just as not nice as teenagers- grumpy, don't sleep and even more fidgetty than normalwithout a regular 'fix'.
Roll on the hockey season.
January 31, 2011 at 9:35 PM
Jenny K said…
Wow 2 comments on 2 posts - We just laid down the rules again about screen time for this year. Actually it is supposed to all the time during the school year but it got pretty slack (ok I got pretty slack) at the end of last year and over the holidays (don't even go there!!)

So we have said 1/2 of non-related screen time per day. If they want to watch a 1 hour show they will have to bank time beforehand. Yesterday (first day back) went well. They are all reading a couple of series at the moment so that helps!
February 1, 2011 at 11:16 AM
Jenny K said…
Oops that should say non-school related...
February 1, 2011 at 11:17 AM
michael and karen said…
Jenny - we don't do Sat sport anymore - it has been a great decision for our family, esp because Michael works all day Sunday. We too felt the need to reclaim some time, just to hang out/read together/play games/visit friends/go to the beach etc. None of our boys have missed it!
February 1, 2011 at 10:28 PM
Motherhugger said…
But, but, Jen. What about MAD MEN?!?!?
February 1, 2011 at 11:19 PM
Jo said…
We canned Sat sport this summer too, best thing we ever did. I think we need to ban screen time during the week too, it sucks up so much time and makes me feel disconnected from the kids, which makes me lament the fact that I don't homeschool...lol.
February 6, 2011 at 9:44 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Confessions of an earl grey addict

-
Image
I have to confess in this public forum that I'm addicted to earl grey tea. I used to like the expensive stuff (Twinings) but because I drink so much of it, over the years I've had to buy the home brand version because I couldn't afford to sustain my habit. On Monday mornings I'd go to playgroup and have a cup of tea.  But one wasn't enough.  I'd have to go back for another. I'd visit a friend and enjoy the first cuppa.  But start to wonder if it too rude to ask for another, an hour into our visit. I don't have milk or sugar with it.  That just wrecks the purity of the experience.  I would branch out sometimes and enjoy Lady Grey or French Earl Grey for a treat.  But for everyday purposes my friend was the 'Earl'. But two weeks ago I went cold turkey.  I just decided that it was time to break the habit.  I have entered the world of herbal teas with all its strange flavours.  Peppermint (toothpaste dissolved in hot water).  Camom...
Read more

Going grey at 40

-
Image
I have written about this before , but after broaching the subject on facebook a few weeks ago I've been thinking a lot about the whole colouring your hair deal.  On facebook I asked when having natural coloured hair was going to become trendy like other old fashioned things like quilting and growing your veges?  I am quite tired of how time consuming colouring my hair is and how expensive it is. A very interesting conversation resulted with a huge variety of opinions.  Many of the women said they would be going natural, but of course they aren't gray now (and are my age) so I don't think that really counts.  Until you ACTUALLY start going seriously gray/white you can't see how it impacts on the way you look.  I think it is different to be almost white (like myself) at age 40 and agreeing in principle to going natural when it happens to you in the future (when you will be a lot older than I am now!). Just quietly, I'll believe it when I see it (let me thr...
Read more

Why I won't home school (if I don't have to)

-
Image
Occasionally I get asked what I think about home schooling.  Let me say from the outset that I'm not against it at all.  I was actually homeschooled for Year 3 because I wasn't coping with the local Indian school and I wasn't old enough for boarding school.  I have lots of friends who do it - some out of necessity (eg. missionary friends in remote places with no options) or out of choice (because their child doesn't cope with the mainstream school system).   So I'm fine with the whole concept. I have great admiration for families that choose to provide that education for their kids.  It is hard work and a significant drain on time and emotional energy (usually for the mum).  I also think that it can be a great gift for children who would otherwise get lost in a conventional educational institution. But why wouldn't I do it?  Partly because I did homeschooling myself and found it quite lonely.  I missed the social interaction of school a...
Read more