When I “retired” back in June and decided to give the stay-at-home mom thing a try, I thought that I would surely lose my mind within the first three months.  One thing is for sure: my children and I have had ample time to get to know each other.  I’m sure that from time to time they get sick of me and there are certainly days that I am more than happy to see them go to Papa’s house.  However, all in all, the past seven months have been the best of my life. 

When you spend days on end together you have to find things to do so you don’t strangle each other to fill your time.  After all, the family that plays together – stays sane together.

Movie Night
About once a week we have a movie and popcorn night.  Since we’ve had so much snow recently, we’ve had a LOT of movie nights and I regret not buying stock in Redbox.  The catch to this one is you might have to suffer through Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses in order to have quality time with your kids.  I think of it this way, regardless of the movie, it is generally an hour and a half that I don’t have to hear my name over and over and over again.  Where we live, we have a dollar theater close by and on Tuesdays they also have popcorn and drinks for a dollar. I think we may go there today.  Some movies that didn’t make me want to gouge my own eyes out this year were: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Planet 51, Aliens in the Attic, Up, Monsters Vs. Aliens, and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.

Lessons in Good Sportsmanship
My kids love to play games and it’s my opportunity to give them a healthy dose of good sportsmanship because you have to earn your winnings in this house.  My daughter loves to play cards and as a result has learned how to add, subtract, figure odds, and count cards.  I’m tempted to take her to Vegas with me.  Just kidding.  Seriously, she does love to play Hearts and Rummy and regularly beats us all.  My son likes the staples of Go Fish and Old Maid – but he’s still terrible at both.  Some of our other favorites are Hungry Hungry Hippos, Disney’s Scene It, Hang-Man, and last, but not certainly not least – the Wii.  If the Wii is out of your price range and you have younger kids, the V-Motion game by V-Tech is a great option.  Both of my kids love to play it and the games are interchangeable with their hand held V-Smiles.

Culinary Experimentation
Everyone usually has a hand in dinner at our house – literally, so eat at your own risk.  I’ve discovered that if the kids help with the preparation, getting them to eat is usually less of a fight to the death.  Pizzas are a favorite around here and relative cheap to make at home. I buy the Pillsbury refrigerated dough, cut it into individual sizes and then let them run wild, piling them with toppings.  Other group cooking activities include cookie and cupcake decorating, muffins, any type of casserole.  The messier it is, the more they love it.

The Family Workout
Usually once a day you will find our little troupe involved in some sort of indoor calisthenics.  From running around the living room, to doing pushups off the coffee table there is a lot of physical exercise that goes on our house.  Ever seen a four year old practice yoga?  Come by after dinner on Tuesdays and Thursdays and my son will show you a half moon pose – or maybe a full moon pose depending on if it’s post or pre bath time.  If he’s not working out with me, then he is sitting on my stomach while I do Pilate’s 100’s asking, “Mommy, how does your tummy feel?  Does it hurt yet?”

Bedtime with Mommy
My favorite part of the day is bedtime.  As much as I enjoy the quiet that ensues, I love spending time with my children before they fall asleep.  I’m not a co-dependent mom who has to smother her kids at bedtime, but we do read books and occasionally still rock and sing in the rocking chair.  My daughter is learning to read, so story time takes a lot longer, but I don’t mind so much.  I listen to their prayers, say prayers over them and tuck them into bed. When it’s time for me to turn out the light, each child has a routine.  My daughter gives me three kisses, says “I love you.  Goodnight. Have a great sleep,” exactly three times and then I tell her “No more talking.”  My son gives me one hug and a kiss and says, “Good night.  I love you.  When you gonna go to bed?”  I say, “Not for a long time. Don’t get out of bed.”  Maybe they’re weird.  I dunno.  If they are, they get it honestly.