This is what I hate about summer:

[Green_Tea]

Every day - EVERY SINGLE DAY - we do something that is exclusively for the enjoyment of my children. We go to the lake. We hit the bakery. We visit a friend with a pool. We go to the library. And when we come home from said fun thing, all three of my children go into meltdown phase. They fight with each other. They talk back. They burst into tears over perceived slights. They refuse to clean up after themselves. They whine.

They've been out of school for 2.5 weeks and I am already ready to send them back. This stuff never happens during the school year - only in the summertime. Right about now I am really envying the parents who send their kids to 8 week sleepaway camps.

[crl]

Sing it sister! My nine year old asks me everyday, what's the plan. And when I say, hanging out here, he's all pissy because that's boring. Dude, we have been on two trips, have done one week of instense swim seasons at the pool complete with hanging out with friends after and have two more scheduled, have baseball two times a week, and have another camping trip scheduled. Get over yourself!

Catherine

[wellyes]

That becomes "you guys go play in your room together" time around here (and that is when you find me peeking in online....)

[Green_Tea]

Sing it sister! My nine year old asks me everyday, what's the plan. And when I say, hanging out here, he's all pissy because that's boring. Dude, we have been on two trips, have done one week of instense swim seasons at the pool complete with hanging out with friends after and have two more scheduled, have baseball two times a week, and have another camping trip scheduled. Get over yourself!

Catherine

Yup, we have that going on here, too. I constantly hear, "Nowwwww what are we going to do?" This summer we have four weeks of swimming lessons which involve daily trips to the lake at which they see tons of friends. We are going on vacation for 2 weeks. The girls are going to sleepaway camp for a few nights. We have very few days "off", and even on those days we often see friends or do something fun. I am happy to do all this stuff because it keeps us active and it's fun for me, too, but I am SO DAMN SICK of the whining and arguing and complaining when we get home for the day.

[Green_Tea]

That becomes "you guys go play in your room together" time around here (and that is when you find me peeking in online....)

Oh, how I wish that worked in our house. When I am down one kid, the other two (regardless of which two it is) are great together. The three of them together are FERAL, and not in a good way.

[carolinamama]

Oh, how I wish that worked in our house. When I am down one kid, the other two (regardless of which two it is) are great together. The three of them together are FERAL, and not in a good way.

Yep, I completely remember this being the case when we were growing up with 3 kids. And then I went and had 3 kids. What was I thinking?!! ;)

[nfowife]

Yes. We've been out of school 6 weeks already, with 5 more to go. What a Lon freaking summer. And I have a napper so we are home every day from 12:30-3:30.

[hellokitty]

OMG, THANK YOU for starting this thread. I sometimes feel like I have the most entitled, spoiled children. We have been on summer break since Memorial wknd and I feel that I do a very good job of keeping my kids busy with fun activities and meet ups with other moms and their kids. Well.... instead of being being like, "thank you mom, for taking us out for a fun day," I get, "why do we have to go home, my life is sooooo boring, I NEVER get to have any fun." This just makes me FUME! :31: I usually end up going off on them about how ungrateful they are being, when I bend over backwards to make sure that they have fun during the summer. Then I start venting about how I NEVER got to do anything fun when I was a kid during the summer. I am not exaggerating, my parents did not take us ANYWHERE (unless it was something that they wanted to see), if the school had taken us to the zoo before, my dad's stance was that we had been there 1x already, so why should we go back again? Everything was only supposed to be purely for educational purposes, so if it was fun, then it was, "bad." Plus, his attitude that we had to, "study" all summer, so basically we got stuck doing math workbooks all summer (the irony is that I actually think I suck at math, since my parents made me hate it so much, I'm like the anti-asian stereotype when it comes to math), plus having to do hard work in the summer like weeding and landscaping work that you'd normally hire someone to do. So, yeah, it pisses me off when my kids get all whiny and ungrateful. They are lucky that they my parents aren't their parents.

[Green_Tea]

OMG, THANK YOU for starting this thread. I sometimes feel like I have the most entitled, spoiled children. We have been on summer break since Memorial wknd and I feel that I do a very good job of keeping my kids busy with fun activities and meet ups with other moms and their kids. Well.... instead of being being like, "thank you mom, for taking us out for a fun day," I get, "why do we have to go home, my life is sooooo boring, I NEVER get to have any fun." This just makes me FUME! :31: I usually end up going off on them about how ungrateful they are being, when I bend over backwards to make sure that they have fun during the summer. Then I start venting about how I NEVER got to do anything fun when I was a kid during the summer. I am not exaggerating, my parents did not take us ANYWHERE (unless it was something that they wanted to see),

Yes, this was my childhood in a nutshell. We were along for the ride, the ride was never about us.

[KrisM]

I then tell mine that if they don't appreciate the things we are doing, then we'll just stop doing them. I've canceled one thing this summer (just postponed it, really) and that seemed to wake them up a bit.

I also send them outside a lot. There are a lot of kids around, so they can easily find someone home to play with.

We've had 4 weeks so far and have another 8 to go. It seems like forever sometimes!

[WatchingThemGrow]

Oh, how I wish that worked in our house. When I am down one kid, the other two (regardless of which two it is) are great together. The three of them together are FERAL, and not in a good way.
Why is this not a warning that anyone shares BEFORE you get pg with the 3rd? Seriously. And is there ANYTHING that could relieve some of the insanity instantly? I hate to do popsicles, but I'm wondering if maybe just some homemade "ice" molds would change their tune after we go spend 4 hours at the children's museum and I have to drag them out by their hair.

I found tonight that a bedtime snack of pita chips and hummus for 1, cheese sticks for 2 helped make tonight's home re-entry a little easier.

[Green_Tea]

I then tell mine that if they don't appreciate the things we are doing, then we'll just stop doing them. I've canceled one thing this summer (just postponed it, really) and that seemed to wake them up a bit.
I really need to do this. I struggle with it, because usually canceling something impacts another family or group of people, and it seems not fair to them, but maybe I need to plan a few things for just us (ice cream, movies) that I can then cancel to prove a point.



I also send them outside a lot. There are a lot of kids around, so they can easily find someone home to play with.


This is why I hate our neighborhood. And the heat wave. And our backyard, which is lovely but gets zero shade.


Why is this not a warning that anyone shares BEFORE you get pg with the 3rd? Seriously.

I know, right??? My new advice to everyone who thinks about number three is to stick with EVEN NUMBERS. Have two. Or four. But not three. :ROTFLMAO:

[SnuggleBuggles]

Ds1 has only had 2 full weeks at home this summer, out of 4 since school got out. We have had our share of days where we did nothing. We've had 2-3 days where I have let the boys rot their brains with TV and other electronics all day. They are honestly happiest when they can just chill at home with nothing to do. Once, I asked them if they wanted to go out for ice cream and they declined by saying we had some in the freezer. :) The brain rotting days were great for me to either clean or just read. I recommend it!

[twowhat?]

Oh, I soooo hear ya! We don't even have "summer break" since DH and I both work FT but on the weekends - everything we do is for the kids' enjoyment and when we get home, they are hot, tired, and GRUMPY GRUMPY GRUMPY. They will not nap despite how tired they say they are (today DD1 told me she needed "another nap" because she was tired...but she never had a nap to begin with!) They whine, fight, and have meltdowns over the dumbest things. DH and I yell, yell, and yell some more, as we are also hot, tired, and grumpy because we didn't have time to grocery shop and still have no food in the house, and have 2 little girls begging us to take their shoes off FOR THEM and get them this or that... When the heck will kids be happy to get home, grab a tall glass of ice water, and SIT DOWN WITH THEIR FEET UP??? LOL. We've even tried (out of desperation) to get them to watch TV for a couple hours - and THAT makes them grumpy! They watch, zone, then whine, whine whine.

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack your b!tch. All I can say is...thank goodness they have to go to daycare on the weekdays because being at work is seriously when I recharge.




(the irony is that I actually think I suck at math, since my parents made me hate it so much, I'm like the anti-asian stereotype when it comes to math)

and :yeahthat: I suuuuuuuck at math, couldn't calculate tip in my head to save my life.

[KpbS]

It's weird, but I find it takes my kids a while to get back into the groove of playing with each other during the summertime. They need that unstructured time at home with free play to work it out and start relating to each other in summertime mode. The beginning is rough but after a couple of weeks they get it.

In the meantime, can you pull one of them aside on a rotating basis to help you with things? They can help put breakfast together, wipe the table down, plan/prep dinner, pack snacks and waters for the park, start a load of laundry, etc. You can shift the dynamic, spend some one on one time, give them experience with household care (appreciation? :)) and maybe help things get back on track.

GL and I hope it gets better! Nothing like yelling at kids "stop screaming a each other!" at the top of your lungs and I am definitely guilty here :tongue5:.

[KpbS]

And another sanity saver is that everyone goes to their own rooms (or a room by themselves like the playroom) for 1-1.5 hours everyday at 1 pm. They need the time to recharge an I need a break!

[wellyes]

Maybe it would help to take some "you" time so they appreciate the family outings more.

My goal (not often reached these days) is to hit they gym from 9-10 every morning. Kids hang out in the gym daycare.... fun but still, just toys and random other kids indoors, not AWESOME. Then we go do some fun family thing.

[maestramommy]

Oh, how I wish that worked in our house. When I am down one kid, the other two (regardless of which two it is) are great together. The three of them together are FERAL, and not in a good way.


OMG that is US! 2 of any combination is awesome. 3 is a clusterf*ck.

And mine are pretty yucky at the end of a fun day too. That is why the last hour before dinner is TV TIME BABY!

[Green_Tea]

My kids have an hour of quiet time I. Their rooms every afternoon while the toddler is napping. Otherwise they drive each other, and ME batty.

I'm curious - for those of you who do quiet time, how old are your kids? Mine are 9.5, 8 and 6. I don't think quiet time is going to fly here, but would love to hear from parents of older kids that that works for.

[kdeunc]

OMG that is US! 2 of any combination is awesome. 3 is a clusterf*ck.
:yeahthat: That made me laugh out loud. Seriously why aren't there warning posters in the OB's office?? If I weren't so old and tired I might try for a fourth just to get an even number. My luck I would have twins and end up with 5! :)

[kdeunc]

I'm curious - for those of you who do quiet time, how old are your kids? Mine are 9.5, 8 and 6. I don't think quiet time is going to fly here, but would love to hear from parents of older kids that that works for.

My older boys are 9.5 and 7. I am not above using electronics for "quiet time". They go to their rooms and read or play quietly on their DS. It doesn't happen everyday but we do have some success without too much fussing.

[cmo]

I'm curious - for those of you who do quiet time, how old are your kids? Mine are 9.5, 8 and 6. I don't think quiet time is going to fly here, but would love to hear from parents of older kids that that works for.

My kids are the same age as yours, and we still do 'quiet time' most days during the school year (it is spotty during the more-active summer). Once they grew out of naps, we kept it as it helped them not ramp up so much in the late afternoon. It usually lasts 30-60 minutes. They will always get a little/lot crazy in the late afternoon, so quiet time ramps down their starting point, IYKWIM. Part of their homework is to read from 15-30 minutes each day, so they knock that out during quiet time, and sometimes continue reading, sometimes play on their own (my only rule is nothing electronic). When they are done, they can have a TV show or something fun, a snack, then finish homework and free time after that.