The Giesekes: July 2014

We sure do spend a lot of time at home. I'm trying to make more of a conscious effort to embrace that time as sacred instead of just seeing the long hours to be endured. As part of that effort, I've been trying to plan days at home, just as I would plan and strategize for an outing (do we have the right gear? how long will we do the activity? what could go wrong and what would I do about that? when/what will we eat?). That way I don't have to be so reactive (and get so frustrated/angry!). I can actually head off a lot of potential difficulties by thinking through the kids' natural rhythms.

Jackson can concentrate on one thing for a long time, but needs help getting started. He also does poorly with a lot of interruptions. It's best to let him control his own tidy area and keep things very simple. Don't give complex choices or throw him a curve ball. Make sure he knows what you expect him to do.

Cosette jumps into anything immediately, but looses interest quickly. It's best to continue to introduce new play elements every few minutes. She is drawn to play Jackson's game and be included, but they have a lot of conflict so I give her her own toys to control and keep it exciting when she's bored.

Here's an example with trains. We set up separate tracks for them to control. Of course, nothing goes perfectly, but that's ok.