It was one of those very rare Monday mornings where everyone got out the door on time. Perhaps the motivation lies in just getting this week done and over with, since it is the last week of school for my children.
So I took advantage of the leisurely drive to school, before iPods could be stuck in ears, to discuss summer rules. Things got a bit out of hand last summer and I don’t know how it happened. Perhaps it was because I bent on rules to a point where I then lost control. All I know is that for the past few days I have been thinking about how I will not let the same thing occur this summer…my home being overtaken by their friends.
If there is one thing I could point to that is a real downer to working from home, it is having children on summer vacation. It can be very difficult to balance things. I have work I need to get done, yet my children want to enjoy their time off from school.
Last summer I dealt with noise, children coming and going (and as a result my dogs barking constantly), slamming doors, endless questions, arguing, begging me to drive them somewhere, children eating me out of house and home…the list could really go on.
Even if you don’t work from home, if you have children home for the summer you have your own set of problems.
So this year I have a plan. I have rules that I devised and plan on posting. It has been a long time since I have posted rules but I think it will serve as a reminder to not only my children but myself as well…so that I don’t start bending rules one day and then suddenly find the situation as it became last year, out of control.
So this morning I talked about some of those rules, starting with the number one rule being that absolutely no children can come over before 1:30 p.m. There is no exception to this rule.
This one is really important because some weeks I get lighter loads of work. However I still don’t want anyone over before 1:30 because it eliminates the need to feed other children lunch. That got really out of hand last summer.
I also stipulated that there may be times when I have to extend that time beyond 1:30, especially if I have a heavy load of work. My children are free to go to their friend’s houses, the park or even play in the yard during those times but no one is allowed inside of our house.
Then I talked about the need to respect my time, keeping interruptions to a minimum, noise level down and a few other things. The good thing about talking in the morning is they weren’t ready to argue or question anything.
Establishing summer rules is a good way to keep the peace, maintain order and make sure expectations are understood.
What summer rules are you going to implement this year?
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