This morning was r-o-u-g-h. From midnight to five a.m., our two girls were up about every 1.5 hours – for consolation from popping teeth or nightmares. Our four year old ended up in our bed, snuggled against me with tears drying on her face while she fell asleep. And just when I finally drifted off again, our youngest, 1 year old, began to cry. My husband tried to walk her back to sleep, but only momma would do.
I was out of bed for good by 5 am, which was actually a good thing. My days tend to be much more emotionally stable if I can get just a bit of time to myself in the morning! But before 7 am, the baby was up again and we had one kiddo have an absolute meltdown.
Thinking it was possibly going to be a long day, I decided to postpone starting schoolwork until after we had taken a walk and been outside for an hour. That went well for 50 minutes, but when we turned back around to head home, one child was screaming and two were crying. Feeling a bit defeated, I helped everyone put away winter gear and get a morning snack of nuts and dried cranberries. The baby was done, so I carted her off to nurse and nap.
While I was nursing her, I checked my email on my phone to see what things needed my attention for the day and found I had two late bills. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t log in to pay them.
The baby fell asleep, and I laid her down and joined the kids downstairs for Table Time. (This is when we do our things that require sitting with mom – math and copywork, primarily. Everything else is done in a cozy spot or while walking/jumping/dancing/expirementing/exploring/etc.). It had been such a crazy morning, I decided a hymn and playing games plus reading books would be how we appraoched the school day. It worked well!
A day that could’ve been an absolute disaster (one kid actually said, “This is a BAD day!” by 9 am) turned out to be great. We just needed a major do-over.
One of my mom friends gave me this trick. In her home, she’ll tell the kids they’re starting their day over and they’ll have breakfast for lunch to “re-set”. I’ve used this exact thing before and it works fabulously!
Some other ways I’ve used this idea: games instead of typical school work, like today; getting myself a new cup of coffee and making it extra special somehow (cinnamon, anyone?); deciding on a picnic + books morning with snacks and lovely reads; packing everyone in the car so all appendages are to themselves and getting a snack/coffee to take on a drive in a scenic route near us; ditching the former plans for the day and doing a last-minute field trip to a museum or historical site; going for a walk and picking flowers to put on the table… you get the idea.
A do-over gives us (and teaches our kids) that it’s ok to change when something isn’t working, and that something new and fresh in the day can make things better. When there is no hope for better things, despair sets in. We can teach our kids that we have the power to adjust our day with small habits. That we can add beauty and fun into a doldrum moment, and turn that into a favorite memory.
What are some of the ways you like to help your kids and yourself have a “do-over”?
A Little Golden Thread 