By Carie Moore
You know that age when kids are too old for daycare yet too young to stay home alone? It’s a struggle! Luckily, we can leave our oldest with our youngest for a few hours at a time and take the middle one with us, but most days it’s the 2 younger ones and dad.
I stress about schedules, food, and chores daily. In our home, we are black and white when it comes to food and structure. I want to make sure it’s an easy transition come fall, although it never is with harvest and light till 10 pm.
We put a numeric lock on the house door because the kids were always sneaking up to the house to grab snacks. Well that didn’t last long because they figured that darn code out in a matter of days. They’re sneaky like that. They weren’t too sneaky, however, because they would leave wrappers on the counter, or next to the garbage. Sometimes a chair would be pushed up to the pantry door to reach dad’s “cupboard” (where the goodies are — like the parade and tractor candy). Once, one crawled through a window that didn’t have a screen in it, before the air conditioner went in, and went through and opened the door for the other one!
We can’t control everything our kids eat, especially during the summer and on the farm. We’re busy and usually the house (for safety reasons) is away from the barn, buildings, or equipment or the view is blocked. There are some days I come home and make supper, and no one eats. I ask why, and I find out they had lunch at 3:00 p.m. and by 9:30 I’m making summer sausage sandwiches or a frozen pizza for a bedtime snack.
When your kids are in their “tweens” it means they probably won’t get to go to the pool or the park or be asked what they want to do. They’ll have to go on trips for parts, to the shop and to the fertilizer plant. But the experience is something they all need.
I just have to let control go and know the kids will be alright. Dad on the other hand, between the kids all day and me at night…he’ll be begging for an early harvest!