Organization and Sanity go hand in hand!
During my summer "day camp" I have been extremely organized. The kids have come regularly and I have had a schedule on the door and we have followed it pretty closely. The kids have gotten along well and we have had a pleasant experience. Maybe it's me....most likely it is me....because at the moment I honestly can't remember Monday and Tuesday. Oh yes, Tuesday I was off. Was that really on two days ago? Anyway, yesterday I was supposed to have all four "campers". By 9am I was down to only two. The boy who joins us occasionally was sick and Dakota's cousin's little brother was very sick and in the hospital so she would not be joining us either. Dakota and the friend that was here are the easiest two to match up since she is older and brings out a bit more of the quiet side in him. I had things available to them and we had to take an hour long roundtrip to my work, but all in all, until 3:00, things went well. However, too much loosey goosey time made for wound up and bored children and I felt a bit frazzled by 5pm when her dad finally came to get her.
Today we got our friend at her normal time, but Dakota's cousin needed to be picked up later in the morning. The two kids did their entire packets that I printed and were doing well, but I knew I was not organized for the day and there was no schedule on the door for them to follow. My mistakes were evident 30 minutes after I had all three children together. Shrieking and screaming had them banned from Dakota's room after numerous warnings and fights over toys and games so I thought that having them in the playroom would solve the problem. Not. Out came the game of Sorry. Huge mistake! They all wanted to be first, be best, take THIS card or make THAT move. Okay. DONE. What they really, truly needed was an hour of running wild outdoors, but the heat index is 107 currently and, while I could surely use the break, I don't want to kill them! I chose a movie, Dr Dolittle, that I thought they hadn't seen before. I asked them to come in and get settled as I started it and wouldn't you know that all three of them were immediately wrestling over the recliner and shrieking one again. I lost it. Ms. Cindy was officially out of control! lol. I gave them a lecture, put all three of them on a blanket on the floor and sat right behind them so I could monitor their behavior. I had to say ridiculous things like "do not touch your friend with your toes" and "please keep Pikachu off of the fuzzy dog". Currently I have said my son's name a good fifteen times in thirty minutes and each of the girls' names at least five times. One is very interested in the movie, one is semi interested and one has her head under the blankets wishing the movie would just be over. Since I still have over two hours to go and only a very slim shred of sanity left, I will sit here with them and continue to politely ask them to stop poking, prodding and kicking one another. When the movie is over I will sit with them at the table and do a craft and after that I will have a few more papers for them to do to keep them fully occupied until it's time for them to go home. And tomorrow, you can bet, there will be a schedule on the door and plenty to keep them busy because if I have another day like today the men in the little white coats may just very well come and cart me away.
Today we got our friend at her normal time, but Dakota's cousin needed to be picked up later in the morning. The two kids did their entire packets that I printed and were doing well, but I knew I was not organized for the day and there was no schedule on the door for them to follow. My mistakes were evident 30 minutes after I had all three children together. Shrieking and screaming had them banned from Dakota's room after numerous warnings and fights over toys and games so I thought that having them in the playroom would solve the problem. Not. Out came the game of Sorry. Huge mistake! They all wanted to be first, be best, take THIS card or make THAT move. Okay. DONE. What they really, truly needed was an hour of running wild outdoors, but the heat index is 107 currently and, while I could surely use the break, I don't want to kill them! I chose a movie, Dr Dolittle, that I thought they hadn't seen before. I asked them to come in and get settled as I started it and wouldn't you know that all three of them were immediately wrestling over the recliner and shrieking one again. I lost it. Ms. Cindy was officially out of control! lol. I gave them a lecture, put all three of them on a blanket on the floor and sat right behind them so I could monitor their behavior. I had to say ridiculous things like "do not touch your friend with your toes" and "please keep Pikachu off of the fuzzy dog". Currently I have said my son's name a good fifteen times in thirty minutes and each of the girls' names at least five times. One is very interested in the movie, one is semi interested and one has her head under the blankets wishing the movie would just be over. Since I still have over two hours to go and only a very slim shred of sanity left, I will sit here with them and continue to politely ask them to stop poking, prodding and kicking one another. When the movie is over I will sit with them at the table and do a craft and after that I will have a few more papers for them to do to keep them fully occupied until it's time for them to go home. And tomorrow, you can bet, there will be a schedule on the door and plenty to keep them busy because if I have another day like today the men in the little white coats may just very well come and cart me away.
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