Funny how life works out.
I’ve been saying for ages how I wish I could just have an extra hour a day with the kids and through a sequence of events I now do. It used to kill me to come home at 5:30pm and find them wrapped up in themselves or the TV or an electronic device.
Yes, I now start work at 7am and just get to see them wake up before I leave, but I get to leave at work at 4pm. This is huge.
Yes, the kids have to go to Aftercare, but I get to collect them now. I get to hear all the stories about their day first. And trust me, they have a LOT to talk about!
Yes, I now have to do homework with a Master-of-Dodging-fling-yourself-on-the-floor 8 year old, but I now have a grip on what is going on at school. I get to see how well he is doing and tell him so. For the rest there is wine.
Yes, I’m now more responsible for dinner, but I was really, really spoilt, so it’s not a problem at all. I cannot abdicate all responsibility for supper to my long-suffering husband anymore. (On this note, I’m trying not OCD the crap out of it and set up a 6 week menu)
I’ve never been averse to change, but the whole rhythm of my day is a little out of whack at the moment, almost like when the clocks used to move an hour forward or backward in the UK. Weird for a couple of days, but then you’re back in the swing of things.
Now just to survive the homework..
Oh the homework! That’s the one that kills me. I can handle everything else. I’m very much in the “all schoolwork to be done at school and no homework” camp. I don’t mind the work so much its just getting the kids to get it done. My daughter loves it (long may that novelty live) but my son has a million excuses why he shouldn’t do it. Sterkte my friend! And hugs xx
99 % of homework gets done at aftercare and done well. But I do take the time to check the work and make sure they understand it and for C to read to me.
I do think you are getting more of your kids this way.
I think we underestimate how much it means to kids when we pick them up – even if it is after aftercare!
The good news is they do get to a point where they can do their own homework 🙂