The New Schedule

 
Every fall, Air Traffic Controllers bid for what their schedule will be in the upcoming year.  This year Mat made a big switch.  He now works on "the other side of the week."

Beginning the first week of January, his days off changed from Wednesday/Thursday to Sunday/Monday.  However, he took the last spot on B-crew, so he now works "the mid."  Which means he leaves home at 6 o'clock on Friday morning and returns around 3pm, but then leaves again at 10pm and gets home at about 7am Saturday morning.

He hates mids.  We've avoided them like the plague for years, but he decided to switch so he could have Sundays off.  I am very happy he did!

For me it means that everyone in the house has the same weekend and it has changed my life!  I know that sounds dramatic, but it did.

I always used to spend Friday through Sunday having a weekend with the kids and trying to fit some sort of weekend fun for Mat on Wednesday and Thursday.  It made getting things done challenging.  Now, we have declared school nights as "No Screen Time" nights.  It is marvelous!  No more trying to fit in homework, therapy, dinner, baths, Scouts, etc. around all the movies and game time each child has earned.  (I have them do different things to earn gaming time to stop their brain cells from turning to mush.)  Now they can earn time and save it for Fridays and Saturdays.

I noticed changes in the children the first week.

I used to reward Isaac with Teen Titans after his homework was done, after a bath, etc., etc...Now, I think of other rewards like coloring pages of his favorite characters printed from the computer.  Isaac no longer cries to "watch something" whenever we ask him to do something he doesn't want to do.  He now cries, "I want to play!"  This is a huge change because he's had a hard time learning to play on his own. 

There is no more fighting over which show to watch or whose turn it is to pick the show.

The best part is that even on the weekends the kids aren't hooked to the screen because they've had so much fun with other pursuits throughout the week that they will walk away mid-show to do something else.

I'm getting lots more time with them for school work and teaching them how to better complete chores.  I usually have at least one helper while I fix dinner too.

One night we began making paper airplanes and played all night until we had around 25 planes and multiple contests.  And, I didn't have to talk anyone into it.  They just wandered over when I started folding.

 One night Isaac actually asked to go shovel the back porch.  (He usually hates the snow and cold weather, but I guess Evan and I had been making it look like fun.)  Then, Kimball and Josie went out front for a twilight snowball fight.

We also spent some time building a new cabinet for Isaac's most beloved toys and books so he can stop trying to sleep with everything in his bed.

Can you tell I'm loving this?

It's not like they did nothing but TV and video games before, but it was always such a struggle to pull their attention away, or keep it long enough to accomplish much.  My only problem now is that I'm already worried about what Mat will bid for 2012.  I know it's 11 months away, but I'm a worrier.  What can I say?

You like the mid now--right, honey?  It's invigorating to stay up all night, isn't it?  Maybe it's the quiet that you find so soothing...Wake up!  This post wasn't THAT long.

So Many Books. So Little Time.

I wrote this in 2009 when we had planned on our Family Stories topic being about hobbies.  We ended up writing about childhood games that year, but I still had this saved in the Family Stories file on the computer.  When I realized I hadn't written a single thing in my blog this month, I thought of this and decided I'd add it in with my other ramblings about life.

Books have meant a great deal to me since I was very young. I remember longing to learn how to read and following my mother around, toting a book, hoping to convince her to read it just one more time.  I spent much of the money I earned in my youth on books and a good deal of my free time reading them.  I not only love to read books, but I love how books smell and feel. I love how they look organized on shelves and desktops or in bins and baskets.

The first long conversation Mat and I shared was about books.  We have read many books together and to our kids. When we were dating, we read parts of The Book of Mormon together as he investigated the church.  When we were engaged, we read The Tao of Pooh snuggled up together between our college classes.  During one of those first lean years of marriage, Mat splurged and picked up a hardcover copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone for a surprise family Christmas present, and we read it aloud together.  What warm feelings that memory brings!  Now, we have books in every room in our home.

When I was pregnant with Kimball, I excitedly signed up for The Children’s Book of the Month Club. I slowly began to build our library of children’s books before I even picked out a crib set.  Some of the first books I ordered were four Little Critter board books.  Whenever I see them, I think of Kimball pulling all the books down from the shelf in our living room in Aggie Village.  He would sit among them and “read.”  Each child, in turn, has pulled out whole bookshelves and explored the magic contained inside all different kinds of books.  Only Evan has pulled an actual bookshelf down on himself!

I have learned through the years that what I read has a strong impact on the way I feel and how I look at life.  I have learned to be wise about what I read, and I try to encourage the kids to choose good books.  I try to help them to find favorite authors and explore new genres.  We strive to read out of the scriptures as a family each day so we can bring the Spirit into our home.

I’m excited to see the growth our children make as they come to love different books, subjects, and authors.  And, I hope our family will continue to experience joy as we share our love of books.