Update on the summer

Has it really been over two weeks since I posted?  Eh.  Between heat and other things, I've not felt like writing.

My son started back at school last week.  Rather than have three full months off, which always seems too long a break to my British mindset, I decided he could do the July summer session at school.  It's generally too hot in July to make outings pleasant, I am prone to heat exhaustion so I am not much fun, and the school takes them to the pool almost every day, which is probably the best thing for them in this weather.

That said, a couple of weeks ago I was feeling quite sorry that our time at home was coming to an end.  I'd really enjoyed having both children, planning days that didn't revolve around the school run.  Every week, I took them on at least one 'adventure' that was out of our normal routine, and we generally just made the most of our freedom.  But that last week that he was off school was the week of the heatwave, and suddenly going back to our quiet routine seemed much more appealing.

Still, my project to get used to doing housework with the kids around has been a roaring success.  I don't mean to imply that we have some kind of Mary Poppins effect going on where we all sing and dance and work together as a happy team.  There is still likely to be crying and whining... but not always.  For the most part, I am staying calm and giving the children attention where needed and where possible.  I am also being firm about when they need to keep off the floor that I am mopping--the suggestion is for them to stay in one area where they can play in full sight of what I am doing.  If they don't, they get moved behind the baby gate on the stairs so they can't get to me, until I am finished (which only takes a few minutes). 

Generally, I am succeeding in enforcing this consequence calmly and without anger.  They have become accustomed to the ruleset and to seeking each other out for attention--or playing by themselves.  Indeed my son is beginning to go off to his room to play independently with his toys. I've been awaiting this particular development most impatiently, but now that he's starting it, I'm feeling a twinge of panic that soon he'll be in his room all the time and we'll never see him.

But the house is certainly tidier.  I even managed to clear off the bookshelves so that I could replace them with the nicer bookshelf we bought a couple of months ago, a project that I'd been putting off because I couldn't face the child interference.  I've said before that I'm a rollercoaster tidier, but getting such obvious results for my efforts has given me a more sustained burst of motivation, and I'm still working through those little projects that I hadn't want to deal with before.

That said, my next self-improvement quest will be to keep a closer eye on my daughter, and be ready to drop what I'm doing and help her play with her toys as needed.  She's a lot more chaotic in her play than her brother ever was, and that's because I'm too busy to sit down and play with her in a more orderly fashion (which sounds bizarre, but I'm referring to simple, repetitive activities with a clear sequence of events, which is actually very helpful for a toddler).

So when she gets out one of her toys that she can't do independently yet, e.g. a puzzle, I want to be on the ball and ready to sit down with her and play with it.  And to make sure she puts one toy away before getting the next one.  Basically, going back to having cleaning be the secondary activity, the one I do when she doesn't need my attention, rather than giving her attention when I'm not cleaning.

So that's where we are.  And despite the heat, I really am very happy right now, and feeling quite regretful at the thought of returning to work next year.