A quiet, happy home

I have come to realize lately that I am a happier, more relaxed mom when we have a quiet house. Now, by quiet I don't mean that the kids are quiet, but the tv and the computer are quiet. I have also noticed that when I let the kids sit in front of the computer all day and watch tv shows all day, they fight more, they have less patience, and they are just plain grumpy. I get grumpy too because there is the noise of the computer games or the tv shows and the noise of the kids fighting. There is also the feeling of being lazy, which makes me feel guilty, and grumpy. I've noticed that the kids get along better and play more together when the house is quiet. They get more physical activity in and they read more when the house is quiet. The past few days, I have refused to let the kids play on the computer or watch tv shows. I did let them watch a movie together today. I've been thinking about ways to limit their tv/computer time and I'm leaning towards letting one child each day have a computer/tv turn. By tv, I mean netflix. They could pick one netflix episode and 30 minutes of computer time or one netflix movie or all computer time. When every child gets a turn during a day, then the computer is being used all day long. I don't like that. That's when we get grumpy.

The kids and I cleaned the bathroom today. I love spending time with each child as we clean together. Eleanor had so much fun during her turn that she begged me to let her help some more. Eleanor never asks for more work! She also begged me to teach her how to do the laundry. Courtney, I keep using Lucy as an example around here. :-) Zoe needs the least supervision and soon I'll be able to send her into the bathroom to clean an area by herself and she'll be able to do it without me watching. When Emily was cleaning the sink, she pointed out how the faucet gets dirty when everyone spits on it. It would be nice for the kids to pick up on how to keep the bathroom clean, so it's not so dirty when we clean it. Zach has such enthusiasm for every chore he does, and he does a great job. He had so much fun helping me clean the toilet today. Kate doesn't like the fact that I try to do most of the work when she is helping me. I need to let her do more because she always tells me how great I am when I do. :-)

I love being outside with Kate and Noah when they pick red cherry tomatoes from the garden and then eat them. I love watching them pick raspberries and then eat them. In the past, I have been opposed to having so many raspberry bushes around, but now I am happy that we have so many.

The kids found a caterpillar at the park today and brought it home. It kept Emily and Eleanor occupied when we got home. They worked together to make a home for the caterpillar.

There are so many fun and wonderful things to do when the house is quiet!