Daily Chatter: 10/25/12

I start work early on Wednesdays, since it’s the day that Albertsons and Safeway release their grocery ads.  (It’s the first day for King Soopers and Sprouts, too, but I’m thankful I can get those on Tuesdays!)  Let’s be honest about “starting work early”: it usually means that I stumble downstairs around 6 AM, usually in my bathrobe, and stay crouched at my computer until everyone else comes downstairs at 8 AM.

(We have a “no kids downstairs before 8 AM” rule so that I can get some work done before beginning my job as a mom referee.  Of course, that doesn’t mean there aren’t fights while they are upstairs in their rooms, but they don’t usually fight too much between 7 and 8 AM.)

Hannah (one of my team) does the Safeway and Albertsons deals late on Tuesday night, and I add ratings and notes and publish them on Wednesday morning.  This has taken a big load of stress off of me, and I no longer dread Wednesdays quite like I used to.

If you’ve ever wondered what my kids do while I’m working (that’s probably the question people ask the most), here’s pictorial examples:

Yesterday’s messes were pretty mild, probably because the 5yo and 7yo played together and the 3yo and 2yo played together. When they all play together, it’s usually a much larger mess.  They did all go outside together and make a “camper”:

I’m a big believer in kids coming up with their own things to play, without direction or suggestion from adults or media.  I want their imaginations to develop, so I try to be fine with most of their messes, even if it drives me nuts sometime.  “Free play” is very messy and very difficult for adults to understand, but I think it’s sorely lacking in our culture today.  Did you ask for parenting advice?  Oops.

After putting three wailing girls (3 year old, 2 year old, and 8 month old) down for their naps after lunch, I finally got started on school with the 7 year old and 5 year old and had a relatively good school day with only minimal complaining that Teaching Textbooks had told him he got a math problem wrong when he swears he didn’t.  (Yes, you got the problem that you did correct, but that’s not the problem they told you to solve!)

We also updated our timeline and map with stickers for Amenhotep, Nefertiti, King Tut, the Ark of the Covenant, and Jericho; among other things.

Wednesday was a decent day but I’ll be honest that I always look forward to Thursday and the days following because they tend to be lighter for me as far as work.  Except that I’m working on a new project (hint: it involves one of my goals for this year) so I’m hoping to spend quite a bit of time on that this week.

What’s happening in your world?  (Jump in the comments here.)

Just FYI, so that I actually get these posts done, I’m writing them in the past tense because Jeremy and I have a no-work-after-supper rule and late afternoons are when I’m doing school or fixing supper, so unless you want a recap on how my night’s sleep was, you’ll be reading about the day before.