Good Kids

Today I'm going to brag on my kids a little bit.  For the past week we've been helping some friends out and have let them stay in our house.  This has posed a few problems for the kids, but with each issue they've come through with smiles and laughter.

The first of the issues is quiet time.  Like Chuck, our friend also works from home.  The difference is, he's on a weird schedule.  Usually he's working until around 3 A.M. or so.  This means my "get up and be noisy at 7 in the morning" kids have had to be extra quiet.  The first day this was a BIG problem for them.  They were loud!  By day two, they were quieter.  Day 3 and they are walking on tip toes and speaking in whispers.  I'm so proud of them for this!  I know when you wake up with tons of energy it is hard to contain that until later in the morning.

The other big issue is nap time.  None of my kids nap anymore, but our friends have a little boy who does.  He only takes an afternoon nap at this point.  This has been another lesson in patience on the kids part.  They have to be patient until the little man is asleep.  Chuck and I have used this to stress "quiet time" in our house.  We use the little man's nap to allow our kids to "rest" in their rooms.  They've been reading lots more than usual, playing with toys they'd forgotten about and even sometimes napping themselves!  It's been good for us all to have some down time each day.

Now, this isn't saying down time is all we do.  Most days we are out at the park or local splash pad.  Sometimes we have the pool set up in the back yard.  Other days it is just relax and take some time to unwind.  I mean, isn't that what summer is for anyhow?  Time to rest, have some fun, and not worry about planning planning planning.  It's been a good lesson.