constant interruptions

[Lovedtodeath]

DS has his sleep schedule all over the place. When I am not dealing with him DD miraculously is starved, thirsty, or has to go to the bathroom. When it is time for phonics, she cannot possibly sound out words b/c she forgot to finish eating lunch and now she has to finish. Ugh!! It takes me all day to wrestle the time to do 1/2 hour to 1 1/2 hours of schooling. :banghead:

 

Any responses are welcome. I don't know if I am venting or asking.

[Aubrey]

What if you tell them what times you're going to feed them? Mine (theoretically) get b'fast...ok, I'm going to tell the truth...they feed themselves around 7, when they get up. Then I feed them again around 8, when I get up. Then they (usually) get some semblance of a snack at 10, lunch at...12 would be good, but it's often 2:30 before I get around to it, maybe another snack between 3 & 4, dinner between 5 & 6.

 

When they get to asky about it, asking gets put off-limits. They have to just trust that I will feed them & they won't starve. When they start dawdling about food, we put time limits on eating.

 

In your case, I might explain the situation to dd, why getting school done is important & how these things are getting in the way. Give her 30 min or so to eat, then wrap up whatever's left, & she can have it for a snack after she's finished her reading (or whatever you're doing).

 

A little of this should cure her pretty quick & you'll be able to get on w/ life. If all else fails, though, check w/ Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. She's infinitely wise. :001_smile:

[FlockOfSillies]

Call her bluff. "Forgot to finish your lunch? Aww, that's too bad. Maybe next time you'll eat it in a timely manner. Kitchen's closed."

 

You can phrase it as sweetly as you like, but don't put up with her excuses. You can give her a 5-minute reminder before you start. I find that helps all of my kids, so they don't feel like they're being yanked away from whatever they're doing at the time.

[Pamela H in Texas]

Both of the above suggestions are what I would do.

 

We set meal times when my kids were about 6 and 8. Best thing we ever did. LOL So we have breakfast when we get up, snack about 10, lunch about 12, snack about 2:30, supper. You ate when it was time to eat and you did other things outside of those times.

 

Also, it is just a kindness to give kids a time to process that life is a'changin' in 5 minutes. We tend to get on our own thinking and they get off in their own little world. Then we get some bright idea to just snatch them out of their world and make them do whatever we want them to (and get punitive, angry, frustrated, etc when they don't do so with "bells on their toes"). We'd never do that with anyone else because it's rude and overbearing. But it's hard to get out of that habit with our kids :)

[Blessedfamily]

SmartyPants does this. Oh, the dawdling over food around here!!!!

 

She received a simple doll house that she loves, and can't wait to get to after school. When she dawdles, I remind her "Your cutting into your Calico Critter time." That usually works.

 

On the other hand,(as Pamela said) I allow her a bit of transition time, even though it's hectic around here too. I read about it somewhere. Kids get their minds into something and we expect them to jump out of it quickly. It made sense to me because when I'm deep in thought, abrupt interruptions can feel jarring.