It's not a horrible mess, but it's every pillow from downstairs and his bed. And, he'll put them away (after me asking several times), but they won't be put back the way I like them on the couch. So.... more work from me.
**disclaimer: Normally, this would just be a fun activity... fort building of some sort. But, what drove me crazy is that we had just finished cleaning up the toy explosion in the family room, put Grace to bed, and was settling down for an afternoon activity together... in a somewhat clean house. :)
I'm frazzled today. Jake is almost 5 1/2. He's not in kindergarten-- he'll go next year. We're homebound a lot...... Grace naps in the afternoon and I babysit a little girl 2 mornings/week. The weather sucks. Jake needs stimulation, physical activity, mental challenges, etc..... He's spirited. He has high energy. He's bouncing off the walls these days and I feel like I'm going to snap.
Any suggestions..... besides sending him off to Military School (do they take 5 year olds??) :)
7 comments:
our spirited son was jake's age this time last year and we had similar struggles. he wasn't ready for school in august, but by jan. he was!
here are some things we did:
a drum set has been a great way for him to get out pent up frustration. if you can handle the noise, it can be great for them. jack is really musically inclined and i can easily tune it out, so it may not be for everyone.
also, i brainstormed every way i could imagine spending time and put them on little squares of construction paper. we kept them in a litle pouch on the fridge. he could choose anytime from one of the pre-approved activity squares. they had things like play cars, restaurant, build a fort (i see he's good at that), legos, reading, art, play do, acting out a play, call a friend or cousin, write a letter, swiffer the floor, wipe things off with baby wipes, and on and on. choices seemed to help.
and we got a tramp. even on cold days he would go out there for a little bit.
don't know if that helps, but i do get where you are coming from!!!
One of those little exercise size trampolines....and a beach ball. Fun energy zappers...bounce and catch, or at least try......
Just an idea.
i can totally relate-i have 3 girls 2 of whom are running at a million miles an hour 98% of the time. i know this sounds lame and cheesy and like i am trying to be super mom or something, but here is what honestly helps me the most: whenever i feel like i am about to absolutely snap, i stop and remember that the ONLY way to make the craziness stop is if my children were just not here in my life. and if that is the only alternative, well, then i can accept the craziness just a little longer. it helps me to remember that this really is a season, a rapidly flying by season, and i really will miss their wild spirits one day when my house is quiet and boring. although i will NOT miss cleaning up 8 million messes every 5 minutes and asking them to do something 50 million times before they do it or i yell, but their sweet, energetic innocence-that i will miss. hang in there and pour it out to the Lord, he sure can relate to having wild children that drive Him crazy! :)
sorry, but am I allowed to laugh at this picture!
I can relate -- most days my older boys are in school and I have one 5 1/2 yr old energetic boy and one princess at home. While I try to help with activities that get out his energy, I also do two things for myself to help ME stay sane (even with the older boys when they are home). 1)My kids are in bed by 8pm most nights - I need a little kidless time to regroup each night. 2)Whichever kids are home I try to have "playrest" each day (and I try to coordinate with Kenzie's naps) where the boys go to separate rooms to play quietly for an hour - amazingly it unwinds the kids a little too and I try to make it "me" time to regroup in the middle of the day.
Many days though I still don't keep it together as well as I'd like!
Let me know about military school - Colin may be joining him. :) We had some warmer weather (such a tease) and now it's cold again. I should take your post and add it to my blog because it is the same at our house.
One thing we did was blow up an air mattress (that already had a tiny hole in it) and let the kids jump on it. They love it! Colin calls it the 'monkey bed.' We have to be a little careful because Maia likes to be bounced, but we don't want her to end up in the next room!
Good luck!
My daughter turned 5 in October, so missed cutoff for school and is now bored at home...I just don't give our baby a nap every day and try and stay out and about more...the baby sleeps in a stroller and we put him to bed earlier on those days...I know boys are a different breed..we have two of those too, but we got a trampoline for christmas and it does help...even in cold weather, kristi
ps..I just found your blog :)
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