Survival Tactics

Having four kids at home can be challenging. Let me share some of the survival tactics that work for our family.

Tactic #1: A bedroom clock in the kids room! Not only does this help Nicole learn to read time, but it allows me to have a more normal morning instead of worrying about Diana's wakeup times and the sometimes insanely early - 5am-wakeup times of the kids during the early daylight of summer. I taught Nicole how to wait for the smallest line to reach 7 before she and Michael can come down the stairs. They sleep in the playroom, so they just play until it's time and let Jake out of his room on the way down. Sometimes they forget, but one morning they were playing so happily they didn't come down until 7:30!

 Tactic #2: Sweat it out. We've gone to the park (made the mistake of trying library storytime!) in the 85 degree weather and high humidity and they get their wiggles out at a huge park a few minutes drive away. At the end of our trip, I have them run in the baseball field to the fence and back. When they get back I congratulate them and tell them they must be so tired and have no energy. This prompts them to show me all of their energy by running all the way to the fence and back again. Enough times of this and we're all ready to go home. Side note: Can anyone tell me what color Michael's eyes are?

Tactic #3: Protect Diana. The pack n play is the best defense for Diana against siblings tripping or stepping on her (not that this has EVER happened with any of our children).

This toy's arc helps protect her as well :-) Her vision is getting slowly better and I can tell that she is looking at and swatting at more. I get so excited for all of these little developments because I know how much she will enjoy her world!

And when she has tummy time, she's on a quilt they know they can't step on. Diana has been doing really well. She does 4 and 5 hour stretches of sleep at night like a veteran. All of my other kids took around 8 weeks to get there. We keep things loud, light, and not swaddled during the day and quiet, dark and swaddle her at night. Maybe because the "loud" portion of things has upped a notch since having Jake, she sleeps better. I feel so blessed, although I still feel exhausted and like the walking dead a lot. My poor bathroom mirror! :-) I hope by the time Nicole starts Kindergarten in a few weeks I'll be more ready.

Tactic #4: Fun at home! I had the kids help me make cupcakes and they LOVED helping. I really, really want all of my kids to be capable in the kitchen. Nicole cracked the eggs without a single shell falling in (thanks to her Grandma Ostler for the lesson!) and Michael and Jake loved helping pour ingredients in. I might not be able to take them all over the place or pay for summer camps (paying for Diana's 10k delivery took the wind out of those sails!) but we can sure find fun at home if I take the time to do it!

Tactic #5: New experiences. The kids have enjoyed watching Swiss Family Robinson lately and asked about the coconuts the older boys drink from when they are sailing around the island. I got a coconut from the store (my shopping day is now Saturday when Jim can watch the kids!) and they had fun watching Dad drill a hole to get the milk, then hammer it open to get the coconut.