Homework is an issue. It’s an issue for a number of reasons:
1. Flora doesn’t have the longest attention span.
2. Flora’s attention span is further hampered by the fact that so many other things are going on while I am trying to get her to do her homework.
3. My kitchen table has too much crap on it that’s not related to homework.
4. She doesn’t really have enough time to do her homework. Or we’re not using our time effectively. Or something
The combination of all of the above is making homework difficult. I’m still figuring this out.
If I just got home an hour earlier I think the issues would go away. But I don’t know. Evenings are 3-on-1. Trying to get 1-on-1 with Flora to help her with homework (she’s not yet a self-starter, as you can imagine. She’s 6!) means turning on the TV for Kate, holding Michael or letting Michael explore the front room while I keep one eye on him (so that’s not really 1-on-1 right there is it?), or giving Kate “homework” and still holding Michael/keeping an eye on him.
Anyway. I just feel it’s not going well. Her homework should take about 15 minutes, 30 max, and instead it’s like pulling teeth until night time treat/bath/bedtime. Hers AND mine.
Thank goodness she’s smart.
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Michael is making more noise. Along with the “dadada” that’s been in his verbal repertoire for a while now, he is also (finally!) saying “mamama” and “bababa”. He also says, “hhaaii” whenever I say Hi to him after not seeing him for awhile (i.e. when I pick him up from daycare). It’s super cute.
He’s also discovered yelling. He will sit in his high chair at dinner time and shout! The girls only encourage it. Dinner time is pretty noisy.
He likes drinking water from a sippy cup, but he refuses to hold it himself — same with his bottle. Loves his bottle and snuggling with mommy, and there’s no way he’s giving that up to hold the bottle himself. No thank you very much.
He will stand on his own, but he hasn’t taken an unsupported step just yet. I’m equal parts excited for him to start walking and dreading it. Any parent of more than one child understands this feeling. Heck, parents of one child probably understand it too, but maybe with a little less dread. I don’t know. I remember being SUPER EXCITED when Flora started walking, and super stressed when Kate did.
And he climbs on or up everything: stairs, the couch, any box or toy he can get under his feet; he stands in his high chair looking for the next step up.
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Speaking of Kate, she has become my shadow. She follows me from room to room, and she always wants *me* to take her to school or daycare. She is definitely having middle-child syndrome and also still adjusting to life with Michael. I really need to get some one-on-one time with her soon.
She is still not sleeping in her own bed, either sleeping with Flora or me and Dan. I’ve given up on this for now. Sleep is too vital for me to be fighting with her in the middle of the night.
The other morning she said to me, “What do you do when you have a nightmare?” I said, “I cuddle with Daddy.” She nodded her little head. “If I was you and I had a nightmare, I’d snuggle with Daddy, too.”
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In my ideal world I would:
1. Get home with the kids at least an hour earlier.
2. Sign Flora up for bowling on Sunday, and Dan would take her, and Kate and I would spend those two hours on Sunday baking (Michael would be napping, of course).
3. And while I’m at it, I’d have a fabulous part-time job that I loved and/or be a millionaire. Or both.
What is your fondest wish to make your life — as it is now — easier?
Red Pen Mama 
Robot monkeys, to clean up and bring me snacks.
Well, that goes without saying. If I raise my children correctly, they will learn to clean up and bring me snacks, though.
I too wish for more time alone with each kid. I took K to get a haircut w me and omg was she excited- to the point of rubbing it in to B, “You stay here Bub, I”M going out with mommy”. And she was SO well behaved. It amazes me how exponentially more badly behaved they are when together.
There’s something to the sibling rivalry thing. Especially that “rivalry” part!
I am with you in believing that if I left work earlier each day, it would make a huge difference in our family life. I could start dinner and show H how I make some of her favorite meals. She is 15 now so it is a great time for her to learn to make a simple dinner. And the younger one would have me close by when she needed home work help. As it is now, when I get home we are all starving and rushing through homework and housework to get done before bed time. So even on evenings that we are all home, it is not quality family time.
I know, it’s so hard! Even on weekends, it’s such a struggle to get all five of us to the dinner table at the same time. But I will prevail, dammit! 😉
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