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.