Teaching our Children to Enjoy Being Home

I am a homebody.  I love being at home more than anywhere else.  I think that's why being a Stay at Home Mom suits me so much.  I love getting out one or two days a week for errands and kid stuff like story time, and going to church, but honestly I like to be home the rest of the week.  There are some weeks that have more activities than others, and those weeks remind me how thankful I am to be able to stay home as much as I do.  I remember when I used to take Andrew to our neighborhood playgroup, I was shocked at some of the moms felt like they needed to get out of the house everyday.  Some even felt like they had to have their child involved in an activity everyday (example Mon Gymnastics, Tue PreK, Wed Playgroup, Thur PreK, Fri Music Class).  I honestly had to drag myself to playgroup!  I only went to form relationships with my neighbors, I was perfectly fine with Andrew going to Kindermusik once a week.

Kids today are so over scheduled it is ridiculous.  Starting at 3, they are doing multiple activities outside of school.  Families have so much stuff going on, they don't have any time to spend together.  And on the rare nights they are together, everyone is one the computer, playing video games, or watching videos.  On Saturday, if a scheduled activity isn't going on, most families go to the mall, Chuck E Cheese, or something similar.  There is nothing at all wrong with that.  I just think it would be better to not do it every week, and spend some time at home instead.  Children learn that they always have to be entertained (and most of the entertainment costs money), and have no idea just how to spend a quiet day at home.  We need to realize that children don't need to be constantly entertained, they need to learn how to manage a day where nothing is going on.

A couple of Saturdays ago, we were able to enjoy our home as a family. With Billy working overnight alternating shifts, a whole day at home with nothing to do is very rare (although when he starts his new job this month, I hope those days will multiply). I made a special breakfast, strawberry crepes (usually we do cereal, oatmeal, or eggs), and we just spent time together all day! It was so nice just hanging out at home together. There was nothing on the "To Do" list that couldn't wait until next week.  The house was clean, the laundry & ironing done, and the yard was looking as good as it can in 115 degree weather.  The kids were pretending the couch was a boat and just having a great time. It was so cute seeing Annabelle trying to play pretend with them.  We didn't spend all day doing stuff together, we split off by ourselves at times, but then we came back together and enjoyed each other.  We finished the day off with a nice supper.  After supper, I'm sure we would have taken a long walk or let the kids play on their bikes if it hadn't been 115 degrees.  Since it was 115 degrees, we went swimming at my Mom's house!

Teaching children the value of being at home is really very simple.  Limit their activities, it is too stressful for them and you.  My children are allowed to do one activity I choose (Bible Quizzing), and one activity they choose (for Abigail, she has chosen Girl Scouts, and the others are too little to have activities yet).  That's it period.  During the summer, we don't have those activities, so the kids possibly might do something else (this year they did swimming lessons and Abigail did sewing camp), but I like my summers to be as schedule free as possible, so those are few and far between.  Remember, kids don't have to be running around all over town to be happy.  In fact, I think too much running is harmful.  They won't be able to keep as good of grades, they will lose out on sleep, and won't have much needed downtime.  Try staying at home one Saturday a month, and make it a point to spend some time technology free.  You might be surprised how much you enjoy it!

*Quick Note:  Right after I posted this, I started catching up on my blogs, and found a very similar post here.  Funny how things seem to show up at the same time!