For the most part the fun, frenetic part of the holiday is over. Christmas, New Year, a fantastic, truly terrific trip to Sydney. We walked the legs off the offspring and packed in as much as we could while we were there.
Today though, is the "back to reality" side of things.
The bit where Husband, having spent two great weeks with us, heads back to work. He'll probably take the odd day off here and there, but for the most part it's just me and three small children. And two cats, both of whom still don't like each other much.
Awesome.
So being the control freak, anal retentive so and so who MUST KEEP CONTROL I started planning for this part of the holiday a while ago.
As well as my regular work commitments which I'm lucky enough to be able to do from home, the next two months have me locked into rewrites of my manuscript, because I'm ever the optimist. I also need to fit in some jogging and the reality that Husband may have to fly away at a moment's notice. And oh yes, the builders are coming back soon. The writing commitments I will be fulfilling at the crack of dawn before the offspring wake up. I need peace and quiet to write and it's unreasonable to get them to keep the noise level down to a dull roar during the day. Especially when there is so much squabbling or craft to do that require my intervention!
Awesome, plus one.
Now one thing I have learned as a teacher is that kids don't necessarily have to be doing things all the time. They do need to feel they are doing something occasionally though!
So I set up a little spreadsheet for the offspring of their daily chores for them to tick off each day. Nothing earth shattering, you know, "brush your teeth," "make your bed." That kind of thing. Essentially, things they do already. For one family member in particular, this kind of structure is very useful.
Then I hit up google and got some very simple reading and writing activities to do with the older two.
The plan is to spend a few minutes each day doing some reading, writing and basic numeracy. I'm a big believer in learning through play so Mr. Large is doing all his learning based around his current love of Star Wars. Miss Medium is based around butterflies and craft and Mr. Small is content to just be part of the fun.
The other side of this is that I will be making sure I'm doing a bit of active parenting myself. I'm guilty of allowing the offspring to watch too much tv or spend far too much time in front of one screen type or another.
And that's it. The rest of the time is going to be trips to the beach, play dates, cooking, swimming and yes, sometimes, just being bored.
That's the plan anyway....
What have you got in mind for your little ones?