Mr. Mom Day 6

Well, true to the life of a mom, the only expected thing is the unexpected. :) Jada had a little sickness yesterday, nothing big. To top it off the snow continued last night, and so today is a snow day, which means childcare is closed. So...day 6 came a day early. Usually on Wednesdays I get to venture out and work in the IT department...but not today.

I somehow thought I could avoid bundling everyone up and going out into the snow...yeah right. In the end I am glad we did it though, and the kids had so much fun. I can't count the number of times they went down the sledding hill. There were some older kids that were riding with the twins...so that was nice. Emmanuel is still outside right now.

I did not do so well with getting everyone bundled up and got upset with Emmanuel...that was a bummer. I guess it is another chance to model true sorrow and admittance of wrong. I think I would just rather be the perfect Mr. Mom. Yeah right.

Today is leftovers for lunch. :) That is awesome!

Mr. Mom Day 5

This afternoon the kids really enjoyed playing in the snow. We don't often get snow down here, so it was a real treat. Jenny found some snow pants for the kids, so that allowed them to stay warm while they played. Added some more pictures late in the day after we went out again. The Snow was REALLY coming down.

Today has been a mixed bag. The kids seem to be a little more ornry today than usual. Elena has been opening a present or two a day since her Birthday instead of opening them all at once and being overwhelmed. She got a new game for her leapster. She enjoyed playing it and even did well when her time was up...but when her brother got a chance...that did not go so well.

First thing this morning the twins colored at the table and I worked on "school" with the other two. Emmanuel was working on a worksheet for his writing and doing timed readings with his flashcards. Elena was working on a pre-writting book and a book about math/numbers. She just got them for her birthday and is pretty excited about "school". Emmanuel was having a hard time today with his letters and shut down...that was kind of discouraging. Neither of us handled that very well. Then he came out of it and finished his worksheet. He loved doing the timed readings...although he did not do as well as he has in the past. He had some words he got stuck on and that really hurt the number of cards he read.

Lunch is on the stove...Jenny left out the recipe and instructions. It is OK...but the potatoes are going to be crunchy I think. :( I guess better crunchy potatoes than no lunch, right?

Today has gone well enough that I am thinking of offering to watch some friends' kids; currently the wife has to stay out of the afternoon class to watch her kids. It would be on a trial basis, and their kids may enjoy playing with ours. :)

Oh...the trick for getting a moment's peace. Well, I put the kids in separate areas of the house with some toys; my oldest daughter thought she was in trouble. I guess we don't generally put them "alone". Ooops. Anyhow, I wrote one thank you note - wohooo! Maybe if I do this more often and select better toys it will work better.

Mr. Mom Day 4

Very quickly now. The kids are all upstairs playing well together. Who knows how long this will last. I am actually posting about Day 4 on Day 5. This may give an indication of how Day 4 went. Not so stellar.

I had a mom email her methods for getting a moments piece to do a task that requires focus. I put that one to the test on Day 5 and will let you know how that went when I get a chance. That said, any mom's out there that have advice for Mr. Mom you can put it in the comments...or email me. I am OPEN to ideas!

This truly has been a new area to depend on the Lord. I know that all areas of life are areas to depend on Him, but sometimes I think I have it under control...this is definitely not one of those areas. Maybe He will use it to draw me closer to Him. Please pray for our family as we adjust to this new schedule/thing.

Mr. Mom Day 3

So it is now almost 10:33 PM at the close of Mr. Mom day 3.  It seems that I am being eased into the realities of what everyday life is like being at home with the kids.  Today was yet a little "worse" if I can use that word than the first two days.  I was delighted to check email and get some advice from an experienced mom on how to get a few minutes to complete tasks that require focused attention.  I will have to try them out.  

Tomorrow I have the day as Mr. Mom off.  The kids are in preschool in the morning and I am working in the IT office.  In the afternoon I am working and Jenny will be watching the kids.  I may need to watch them if she has her afternoon class tomorrow.

Today I made lunch on the stove vs. a croc pot meal...so that was a little more challenging.  Jenny had put everything I needed out and the recipe as well though...so it was not too unbearable.  Again  I did a load of laundry...it seems that a load of laundry a day should stave off the dirty clothes.  It is nice that the kids a young enough to enjoy throwing clothes into the washer, dumping cans into the pot for lunch and putting items in the dryer from the washer.  They generally all answer with a loud "I Do" when I ask if anyone wants to help...so that is nice.  The drawback is that their ability to provide real assistance isn't that great yet.

Today at snack time I thought I would try to write some quick notes I needed to write...of course that did not work.  

One of the kids even said he was not that hungry and really did not want snack...talk about torquing you off.  You think you are doing something nice and here is one who isn't interested.  I suppose for it to be a nice gesture, they need to view it the same way.

The screeching and bickering were definitely on the rise today...kindof a bummer.  On a whole the day was a success,everyone is sleeping, Jenny made it to class this morning and I was able to go to Outreach ministry this afternoon.

Mr. Mom Day 2

So day #2 didn't go quite as well as the first day...but it was OK.  I was able to learn what most "moms" probably already know.  That the only thing you can expect is the unexpected.  I arrived to drop Emmanuel off for homeschooling and the teacher said "hey you are going to be home this morning do you want an extra kid?"  To which my words said yes, my heart and face said maybe.  With a little reassurance that I could call if there was trouble we added one to our crowd at the last minute.

The kids played well this morning together, not as well as yesterday...but I suppose some variation makes life interesting.  

My thoughts about not being able to do anything that requires real focus when watching small children were confirmed this morning.  Everything was OK, the kids were playing nicely and I thought I would sit down and read a few emails.  I am not sure if I was even seated before chaos and mayhem broke out between the kids.  :)

I was able to read some stories, we had coloring time and snack time...those I think helped the kids through the morning and me.  I had the kids helping me with the laundry as well.  Four kids standing around the open dryer door.  I would give one article of clothing at a time rotating through the kids.  They thought it was great.

Before I make you cry from boredom I will stop with the details.  :)

Mr. Mom Day 1

Today could definitely could have started out better. Jenny and I both woke up with our stomachs not feeling the best. We are not sure what it is...but we were not feeling so hot. I am thinking, great...day 1 as mr. mom and I am sick on the job. :) I took a little something for my stomach and so did Jenny and she headed off to class. On Tuesday mornings we have Matthew with us for the morning as well. He is the boy that Emmanuel does his homeschooling with.

As the morning has gone on, it has been working out just fine. This is only 1/2 of the way through the morning on day 1, but so far so good. The kids are playing well together.

Jenny got out a recipe for lunch in the croc pot, we have yet to see how it has turned out, but it looks good so far. :)

I layed on the couch for the first part of the morning and "supervised" from there. My stomach is feeling better and so now I am up and around.

Sweeping the floor, clearing the table and sweeping the crusties out from under the table. Throw in a load of laundry, clean out the kitchen sinks. Put the dishes away.

I am sure it is too early to be this optomistic about my first day...but I will enjoy it while I can. I thought you might like a sneak peak into the life of Mr. mom.