Shelter in Place Parenting: Win or Loss?

I remember being a kid who spent her time reading and having a mom who would get annoyed by that.

I didn't understand her annoyance. Wasn't reading supposed to be good for you, and wasn't she supposed to be encouraging such habits?

Bild von Tiny Tribes auf Pixabay

Now that Shelter In Place rules my home, I can understand a bit.

My 13-year-old woke up, rolled over, grabbed her book and began reading.

I was slightly annoyed

But only because they have stopped doing their chores

How did that happen? I was running such a tight ship.

The rules since the shelter-in-place started have been: no electronics, including television, until the chores are done. They can take as long as they want, as long as they do their chores.

Usually, they want those electronics and happily comply.

A few days ago, my youngest woke up and saw me crocheting

Unfortunately the norm has been for him to see me on my computer, and although I am writing and working, he doesn't know the difference between that and "playing."

Mom are you crocheting because you haven't done your chores

No honey, I am crocheting because I want to, my chores are done.

No Momma, your job is to make sure everybody does their job and since everyone is still sleeping, then you haven't done your job.

Then the kid sauntered away. Happy to have proven his point.

The Middle kid woke up next.

What are you guys doing?

She lazily asked.

Bild von Willi Heidelbach auf Pixabay

Mom doesn't want to do her chores, so she is just gonna crochet all day instead of play on her computer

Said my youngest.

His sister's eyes got huge.

So I can just color and paint all day, and maybe read a book and I don't have to do any of my chores?

Yup said the little boy. No chores day, we just get to play all day long.

By the time the oldest woke up, it had been declared a no chore, no electronic day

Well, if they aren't doing their chores, I'm not doing the chores

The way it works around here is that noone has a specific chore. We kind of see what needs to be done, and divide it by four, according to each of our abilities.

This especially works for me, because some days I have a hard time doing much more than making them dinner.

It has been days and they don't miss the electronics

They've played board games, painted, colored, cooked, made cookies, played nonsense games, made trains out of chairs, read, made classrooms with lots of stuffed animals, played dress up, practiced different braiding techniques... etc etc etc.

My oldest has been "cheating" because she has "schoolwork" but for the most part, no electronics.

Bild von Md Zulfikar auf Pixabayrf

I don't know if this is a win or a fail

On one hand, it is kind of nice to have kids who play all day without the help of a tablet. On the other hand, my house is getting kinda messy.

Some jobs are still ingrained and get done.

My oldest does the dishes right after meals.

My middle keeps the table clean and makes sure to sweep after meals.

My youngest still keeps the books looking nice, and makes sure to pick stuff up off the floor.

They still put their laundry away.

They all still help with putting things back.

The trash still gets taken out.

I can still get them to do a random something or other by simply asking.

But the rest of the stuff? Eck. We need a good vacuum, those bathrooms need a lift, the counters are looking kinda grimy, those windows? No One has disinfected shoes, they haven't dusted, those baseboards need a good wipe, and I can't steam clean my floors until the vacuuming is done.

I do realize that we are at the level of "cleanliness" we were before the shelter-in-place had started, but I was getting used to being able to walk around in white socks that stayed white.

I think though, I will take it as a win

Developing thier brains is much much more important than mama having white socks. I can always use black ones...

When four people are home all day everyday, it keeps work to keep things fresh.

And, I have been needing to freshen up more since they aren't helping as much.

I guess I will just stay out of their room until further notice and take my wins where I find them.