Squandering Time

"Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time; for that's the stuff life is made of." by Benjamin Franklin

This was the title of a recent workshop I attended at BYU Women's Conference. I was excited to hear the speakers, certain they would tell me to get my stuff together, to be more effective. Instead they advised us all to slow down, to decide what is most important and focus on that.

I, along with most parents, will tell you my children are the most important people in my world, but do I spend the time nurturing and enjoying that relationship as much as I could? 

I don't watch television so that isn't a drain on my time, but I am guilty of spending hours in front of a computer screen - writing novels, articles, and blogs, twittering, Facebooking, e-mailing. How do I keep this all in perspective so I can accomplish my writing goals yet still put my family first? 

The only idea I've come up with are set writing times. Starting this week I will be in my office from 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. As soon as my time is up the computer is shut down and the office door locked. If I'm in the middle of a sentence, I'll just have to hope my failing memory can recall how I was going to describe Alex's eyes. 

I pray these set hours will work well for me and my family. 

How do you keep work, family, and leisure activities balanced? 

The kids are back at home

The boys are out of school, and as Matthew Buckley says, "It isn't a good summer day if you haven't said, 'I'm bored' at least twenty times before noon." It's been raining in Northern Utah since school got out. After hearing "I'm bored" thirty times I am sorely tempted to let them watch that television show they've been begging for. But lucky for me we have a rewards system. Here's how it works:

The boys have a daily chore and activity list. If they check off each area - family chores, personal chores, reading, academic (math, science, or Spanish), physical fitness, and smile (I love to threaten that they won't get their smiley face check whenever they get a bit feisty) - they are allowed thirty minutes of Play Station, computer games, or television. Also, if they get all their check marks for the week they get to draw out of the prize box on Saturday. 

So far, it's been working beautifully. The boys have kept busy and my house has never been so clean (can't beat free labor). 

Here's a list of other ideas I use to keep my children happy and busy.

- Sports - our favorites are playing catch with a football, wrestling on the carpet, kicking a soccer ball around and practicing baseball or basketball
- Playing hide and seek
- Playing board games or card games - my boys' favorites are Go Fish, Sorry and Risk (notice I said the boys' favorites, not mine!)
- Reading stories together - we love chapter books. Lately we've devoured the Peter and The Starcatchers series by Dave Barry and Ridley Pierson, Chickens in the Headlights by Matthew Buckley, and Serpentide by K.L. Fogg.
- Going on a bike ride or walk even better if you can ride to the park and play or ride to the river and throw rocks
- Cleaning - my friend, Nikki, hands her boys a dust rag every time they say, "I'm bored." We've taken it a step farther. We draw out of a jar the name of a room in our house. Then the boys and I clean that room from top to bottom - blinds, baseboards, drawers, everything. You'd think this would be miserable but it actually turns out pretty great. The boys work hard because I'm working alongside them and we get some wonderful chatting time in.
- Visiting our elderly friends
- Going to the library or book store (two of my favorite places on earth)
- Playing Playdough or doing craft projects - I am horrible at craft projects, but Parenting magazine will often have fun and easy ideas that I can handle.
- Making magic potions or baking together

- Mummify your chid - Give your child a roll of toilet paper. Have him run around you wrapping you like a mummy.
- Setting up an obstacle course in the basement or backyard
- Building forts out of blankets
- Jumping on the tramp
- Playing in the sand (especially if water is involved)
- Having battles with Playmobils or Imaginext knights and pirates
- Chasing for a kiss - the boys run around screaming, if I catch them I get to kiss them.
- Dancing to music
- Making a band with pots, pans, and cooking utensils
- Letting them earn a dollar and then taking them to the dollar store to spend it - again, their favorite, I'd prefer they save their money.  
- Playing silly games like airplane on Mom's feet or horse rides on Mom's knees or holding their leg and hand and spinning until we lose our equilibrium. 

I'm sure all of you could come up with hundreds of better ideas. Please post them through the comments if you'd like. I'd love to hear them.

Hope you have a fabulous summer with your family - Cami

http://www.camichecketts.com