half dozen cuties

The Homework Zone

Life is pretty good around here until 3:15 pm hits. The afternoon usually goes something like this:

Kids (rushing through the door): Mom, what's our afterschool snack?

Me: I don't know, just grab something.

Kids, I don't like.....(whatever, they don't seem to like much when it comes to afterschool snacks).

After much rummaging through the cupboards, resulting in far too many snacks mom starts nagging:

Mom: Time to do homework.

Kids: We need pencils

Which is then followed by 15 minutes of rummaging through the junk drawer trying to find a pencil, only to find one that needs to be sharpened and then trying to find the elusive pencil sharpener.

Meanwhile, Jack, Lily & Anna are running around screaming which causes the older kids to raise their voices which causes the mom to completely lose control.

I was sharing this dilema with my friend Betsy who also has a large family and she made the comment that we need to run certain parts of our family life like a school. I really liked that idea so I spent all day yesterday creating the "Homework Zone." Since our playroom opens up to the backyard I decided to make that homework central (previously the dining room table). I set up a table, complete with nametags for the kids and had a snack waiting for them. They have to walk up our hill and through the backyard from the bus stop so now they enter the house through the playroom. I also organized all the school supplies so that everything they need for any type of homework is right there by them. I finished the project yesterday right at 3:15 and what a difference in our afternoon. They kids came in and were so thrilled to find a snack. They each sat down at their spot and I had them pull out their homework. It was so nice to contain the mess in one room.

Today was our 2nd day of using our homework zone and we are loving it. Thanks Betsy for the words of wisdom.