For the past 2 weeks I have had to listen to Artist ask me when Uncle and Aunt would be coming down and when will be going in to see them, what time would we be leaving to go see them and listening to her tell me how excited she was to see them. The thing about ADHD people is they often get stuck on a topic and it consumes their lives, we try our best not to let Artist know about events coming up or we will have to deal with 100 questions until the event arrives.
As we packed up for the day I could already tell it was going to be an interesting day, I had made a point to not make it an early morning so we would not have to wake up Monkey or feel rushed to get out the door. Somehow the morning was still busy as Artist asked over and over again what time are we leaving, what are we doing today and do we still get to go get shoes? Thankfully I didn't tell her my secret plan to go get our nails done first as when I did tell her I got asked lots of questions about when are going, where are going and have I been there before.
I had recently heard a rule that there should be no electronics in the vehicle unless the drive is over 90 minutes. I thought this was a great rule and it was also perfect timing as Monkey recently broke his cell phone the only kicker is that this rule also goes for my husband and I. I informed the children of this rule and it went fairly well for the first 30 minutes and then the dreaded I'm bored started. Thankfully I had packed a basket of items to keep them busy in the car and informed them to pick something out of it. I'll have a future post about what all we have in the basket.
Shortly after arriving at the nail salon Artist kept asking how much longer it would be until our turn (the wait was only 10 minutes). We finally got our turn and Artist was very excited but it wasn't long until I noticed her fingers in her mouth which is a sign that she is overwhelmed. At the beginning of our appointment there was lots of people in the salon and I think it was just to much going on from people talking, T.V.s playing and the sound of the machines. Well Artist and I were getting our nails done the boys went and did some shopping and then sat in the car for 30 minutes as we finished our appointment, I may have miscalculated the amount of time we would need. This means that only the boys got to have the down time they needed before continuing with our day but at least Baby Boy got to have to quiet time.
We finally arrived at my father's house to visit with him, my step-mother, my brother and his fiancee. Once we got there and got everyone settled I got to sneak away to treat myself to the purchase of a new laptop to make typing my blog a little easier. As soon as we arrived back at the condo the craziness was already going on. I was greeted by Baby Boy running around yelling from excitement.
My poor parents had to deal with my children running around their condo yelling with excitement. Uncle and Aunt didn't seem to mind the craziness that is my family but I'm sure they were happy to have quiet after we left. I tried to give Baby Boy a break by letting him go lay down in a bedroom but for some reason the children always have to bug each other when they are bored. Thankfully Uncle had a new gaming system to keep Monkey busy. Jay also took Baby Boy outside to run around and burn off some energy which was very helpful in bringing down the noise level in the condo.
After supper was all cleaned up my husband and I were just finished and had no energy left to go get groceries and decided to make a trip the next day for groceries. It's days like this that makes me feel like I'm a bad mom who cannot keep her children under control but at the end of the day it often leaves me wondering what I can do differently next time to help us all have a better day.
So what would I do differently next time?
1. Bring in the basket from the car that has sensory items, toys, and headphones.
2. Make sure that Baby Boy gets time to run outside and play at least once.
3. Plan our visit so that it does not interfere with nap time.
4. Keep visits short but try to have them more often.
A quick note about the new rule about no electronics in the car unless the drive is over 90 minutes worked out great on the way home. There was no fighting, the older two children interacted with each other as the youngest slept the whole way home. I loved seeing my children getting along and also the conversations we all had. This rule is going to be sticking around for awhile.
As we packed up for the day I could already tell it was going to be an interesting day, I had made a point to not make it an early morning so we would not have to wake up Monkey or feel rushed to get out the door. Somehow the morning was still busy as Artist asked over and over again what time are we leaving, what are we doing today and do we still get to go get shoes? Thankfully I didn't tell her my secret plan to go get our nails done first as when I did tell her I got asked lots of questions about when are going, where are going and have I been there before.
I had recently heard a rule that there should be no electronics in the vehicle unless the drive is over 90 minutes. I thought this was a great rule and it was also perfect timing as Monkey recently broke his cell phone the only kicker is that this rule also goes for my husband and I. I informed the children of this rule and it went fairly well for the first 30 minutes and then the dreaded I'm bored started. Thankfully I had packed a basket of items to keep them busy in the car and informed them to pick something out of it. I'll have a future post about what all we have in the basket.
Shortly after arriving at the nail salon Artist kept asking how much longer it would be until our turn (the wait was only 10 minutes). We finally got our turn and Artist was very excited but it wasn't long until I noticed her fingers in her mouth which is a sign that she is overwhelmed. At the beginning of our appointment there was lots of people in the salon and I think it was just to much going on from people talking, T.V.s playing and the sound of the machines. Well Artist and I were getting our nails done the boys went and did some shopping and then sat in the car for 30 minutes as we finished our appointment, I may have miscalculated the amount of time we would need. This means that only the boys got to have the down time they needed before continuing with our day but at least Baby Boy got to have to quiet time.
We finally arrived at my father's house to visit with him, my step-mother, my brother and his fiancee. Once we got there and got everyone settled I got to sneak away to treat myself to the purchase of a new laptop to make typing my blog a little easier. As soon as we arrived back at the condo the craziness was already going on. I was greeted by Baby Boy running around yelling from excitement.
My poor parents had to deal with my children running around their condo yelling with excitement. Uncle and Aunt didn't seem to mind the craziness that is my family but I'm sure they were happy to have quiet after we left. I tried to give Baby Boy a break by letting him go lay down in a bedroom but for some reason the children always have to bug each other when they are bored. Thankfully Uncle had a new gaming system to keep Monkey busy. Jay also took Baby Boy outside to run around and burn off some energy which was very helpful in bringing down the noise level in the condo.
After supper was all cleaned up my husband and I were just finished and had no energy left to go get groceries and decided to make a trip the next day for groceries. It's days like this that makes me feel like I'm a bad mom who cannot keep her children under control but at the end of the day it often leaves me wondering what I can do differently next time to help us all have a better day.
So what would I do differently next time?
1. Bring in the basket from the car that has sensory items, toys, and headphones.
2. Make sure that Baby Boy gets time to run outside and play at least once.
3. Plan our visit so that it does not interfere with nap time.
4. Keep visits short but try to have them more often.
A quick note about the new rule about no electronics in the car unless the drive is over 90 minutes worked out great on the way home. There was no fighting, the older two children interacted with each other as the youngest slept the whole way home. I loved seeing my children getting along and also the conversations we all had. This rule is going to be sticking around for awhile.