Summer Vacation Check-In: On to Week Two

Don't fret -- I don't plan on writing a weekly update on how our summer vacation is going. But after last week's interesting revelations (about how my boy is wired, how I react, etc.) and squashing strange motherhood-fears, I was quite amazed at the transformation of the week, from the unexpected start to the equally unexpected finish. Things are looking up, I believe!

Of all the ideas poured over the phone from the crankings of my sister-in-law's sharp and creative mind, one in particular stuck in my head -- the idea of an activity chart. Aidan craves structure, so (as April suggested) just work with that. Don't play for him, but it's OK to set him up, get him started. An activity chart seemed like just the ticket -- enough structure for comfort, yet enough freedom within that structure to help him on his way. I brought up the idea to Aidan, who gleefully jumped into the idea-pool, surprising even me with his own creative workings. Ha -- he has no trouble with creativity when it comes to inventing the structure itself. I'm truly fascinated with this boy, let me tell you ...

So later in the week, we sat down together with pad and pen and wrote down all of the ideas we could think of. But first, before we pulled out the big guns, Aidan had another idea. "I'm big now," he said. "Let's make a chore chart for me." Oooohhhhh ... cool! So together we created "Aidan's Chore Chart," filling in the three chores he said he would like to be in charge of: feeding Jack breakfast, setting the lunch table, and feeding Jack dinner. So far, so good.

The creation of the Activity Chart was an activity in and of itself, taking up Grace's entire nap time, and proving to be a great bonding time for us. He got a kick out of the old Twister spinner, and since it's color-coded (red, green, blue, and yellow) he decided to match his chart to the spinner. It was a joy for me to watch his little mind go to work, and here's what he came up with, now hanging on our kitchen door:


Each color has four activities, (obviously) pertaining to the color blocks on the spinner. Since he's usually OK during the Grace's "awake" hours (you can't beat having a playmate), this Activity Chart comes in handy during her naptime, when he can't figure out what to do. He spins the spinner, matches the color to the chart on the kitchen door, and chooses one of four activities listed there. Pretty cool.

I had to laugh at the first try, though. After we finished the chart, Aidan was ready for his maiden voyage. He gave the spinner a big twist, and watched it land on yellow. He looked at the corresponding offerings, "hmmmmm'd" a bit, twisted his little mouth in thought, and then he said, "I think I'd rather have red. I want to play with my Hot Wheels outside." Hey, I'll take it. For the next 20 minutes he played happily and quietly outside with his cars, until Grace woke up from her nap. I actually got some laundry folded.

The Chart has been in action for the last few days now, with great success. Will it last? Who knows. But the last few days have been great -- limited fighting, great camaraderie (on all our parts), lots of play. I too have been trying to be diligent, interspersing my own "Mommy Time" into the mix, making sure I play with my kids, or at least involve myself in some way. On Friday afternoon, the three of us played Hullaballoo outside on the lawn, and actually had a pretty fabulous time. Aidan helped me transplant a few flowers, Grace helped with the watering (herself more than the plants, I think). Today is a new day, the start of our second week. I'm OK with the structure, knowing now what can come of it.