Follow-up to "slowing down" post-once you slow down, what do you do with your time?

[HappyGrace]

I think a lot of our busyness was an attempt to not have to find interesting things to do with our time. I'm not very creative in that respect. I know part of being slowed down is unstructured time, and now we have plenty of that. But I'd like to have some things to pull out of my pocket to do with dc so I don't translate "unstructured time" into "unlimited playtime for them, unlimited computer time for me" (just tryin' to be honest here!;) ) I'm not very good at coming up with thing spontaneously, so after school time and play time, my dc (ages 8 and 5) would love it if I'd have things planned for us to do together, and I'd consider it a bonus if they further our learning. Things like Tami's cool idea of making model cells out of cookies! My dc would LOVE that stuff! But that kind of thing does take some planning ahead.

Can't I get a curriculum that has this all planned out for me? (she asks, half seriously :o ) If my children were a bit older, I guess I could just do what Tami does by following her blog verbatim! LOL! But really, the type of life she espouses is what I'd like to create, and I just don't know where to start, even with baby steps! HELP!

[Tammy in Germany]

I cross-stitch, read, go for nice long walks, play with our dog, play the piano...I'm never bored. I love talking to my neighbors, hanging out with the kids, reading to my 10 year old..who still loves me to read to him each day. I cook great meals...basically just enjoy life. :D

[HappyGrace]

I am a basically very sedentary, quiet-loving person-I LOVE solitude and prefer it. I could go weeks without seeing another person and be totally blissful. I'd love to be alone all day to read, daydream, garden. I would never be bored. The problem for me lies in how to enjoy time with my children around! (Thus one of the reasons the Lord decided to have me homeschool-to help me grow in this area!) Not that I don't enjoy my children; please don't misunderstand me. But I need to retrain myself to get outside of my own head and find enjoyable pursuits around the house we can do together. To be transparent, I think I've been keeping us overly busy (or on the computer) to "avoid" having to find ways to engage with them. I know this probably sounds horribly selfish, but I'm so willing to change this now, and I'm trying to figure out how to do so. The only thing I know to do with them as an activity is read books, which is wonderful, but I'm trying to find out what else I can do. Should I maybe plan two activities the night before that we can enjoy together the next day? I'm thinking that by planning it ahead, it may be more likely to get done. Sorry, I realize this probably sounds really lame :( There must be others out there who have run up against this and have ideas?

[DIY-DY]

I am a basically very sedentary, quiet-loving person-I LOVE solitude and prefer it. I could go weeks without seeing another person and be totally blissful. I'd love to be alone all day to read, daydream, garden. I would never be bored. The problem for me lies in how to enjoy time with my children around! (Thus one of the reasons the Lord decided to have me homeschool-to help me grow in this area!) Not that I don't enjoy my children; please don't misunderstand me. But I need to retrain myself to get outside of my own head and find enjoyable pursuits around the house we can do together. To be transparent, I think I've been keeping us overly busy (or on the computer) to "avoid" having to find ways to engage with them. I know this probably sounds horribly selfish, but I'm so willing to change this now, and I'm trying to figure out how to do so. The only thing I know to do with them as an activity is read books, which is wonderful, but I'm trying to find out what else I can do. Should I maybe plan two activities the night before that we can enjoy together the next day? I'm thinking that by planning it ahead, it may be more likely to get done. Sorry, I realize this probably sounds really lame :( There must be others out there who have run up against this and have ideas?

We have a block of time in the afternoon - after lunch, after our mandatory "down time" (we read during down time) - yet while the baby is still sleeping. It's a nice time to play charades, pictionary, scrabble, boggle, dominoes. Draw pictures together. Tell stories. I despise card games, so I purposely limit those for when either Dad's home or for times the boys play on their own. And if I try reading aloud in the afternoon, I. Will. Pass. Out.

However, the other things, we can all enjoy together. They're low-intensity enough that I can pop up and down to prepare supper while we play, but they're interactive enough that we can enjoy one another's company, if that makes sense. The kids do enjoy this time, and I've come to. (It was hard, at first, b/c really, I could spend the entire period between lunch and "Dad's Home" reading and napping, and never miss a thing! LOL!)

[Beth in Central TX]

I love to cross-stitch too. I would also scrapbook, read, and work Thomas Kinkade puzzles. I'd expound more, but I have to run to the bank. If extra-curricular activites don't take our time during the day, then it's usually running errands that does.

[Laurie]

Tuesday Teatime! You can read about this at Julie Bogart's website (bravewriter.com). Near the bottom of the homepage you can click on "The Brave Writer Lifestyle" and get some ideas for things you can do with your dc that are fun as well as "educational". You'll also find a link to her blog for more ideas.

[Jean in Newcastle]

We have tons of games. I have them in big clear plastic boxes - between 4 to 6 games can fit in the box depending on the game size. After having my kids get out every single box (again!) and get out all the games (again!) and then fail to put any of them away (again!) - we've instituted this policy. One plastic box of games comes out for the week. The kids can play with those 4 - 6 games as much as they want (during free time) but they must put them away. At the end of the week, I put that container away and we will get out another set of 4 - 6 games. It gives them choices. It keeps them from making too huge a mess and even if they get all 6 of the games out, it isn't too much for them to put away.

[Daisy]

Things we do with our time...

Build with legos, lincoln logs, etc. (I play, too. Well, actually I'm the slave and help the 6yo create what he can imagine)

Listen to audio books and old radio shows.

Play board games, card games.

We do a lot of charity type crafts. DD likes to make no-sew blankets to donate to the local pregnancy center, DS makes wooden toys with his Dad to donate to our friend's foster agency. We make cards for our church shut-ins. Bake goodies and bread to bring to elderly neighbors.

We have a garden so there is always plenty of work to do in that regard. We rake leaves, sweep the porch, wash the lawn furniture, etc.

We go for long walks.

We play at the park.

We play with playdough.

We play with crafts, making paper dolls, doll houses out of shoe boxes, trains out of old boxes, etc.

We clean (that's never done, right?).

We play ball in the backyard, ride bikes, ride scooters, jump on the small trampoline, play crochet, etc.

Then the kids have their hobbies. DS loves his legos and would play with them for hours. DD loves to read and always has her nose in a book.

Read-alouds

The kids like to put on shows for Dad when he gets home. So they will work on a puppet show, musical, skit, etc. and torture their Dad with it. LOL.

Wow! I guess the list is endless. We don't watch tv and the only outside activities we do are AWANA, piano lessons and church ministry activities.

[HappyGrace]

these are all wonderful ideas to get me started! I appreciate the practical suggestions.

[angela in ohio]

We do many of the same things already mentioned. My 9 and 11 yo girls do many handicrafts - they knit, sew, bead, etc. They usually listen to audio books or stories at the same time. My 5 yo plays with building toys. I have a ton of art supplies, and they draw a lot. We have almost 100 games, so they play games very often. They each read for several hours a day.

We have recently started trying to do more service projects, and that takes up time.

My extra time mostly goes to reading and preparing lessons.

We also go on family field trips - nature walks, museums, etc. Even though we are technically "on the go" then, it is so relaxed because it is just us.