Reading Break

One of my best parenting implementations has been Reading Break, which occurs after lunch on days when we're home. It started out as a time when the kids would sit in a spot by themselves and read books, but has changed a bit, so now there is less reading and more playing. The "by themselves" part has stayed the same, though, which is the important bit.

Reading Break worked very well when the Deitz cousins were staying with us. By Monday (their fourth day here) the kids were starting to get on each other's nerves, so we had reading break after lunch. Eli didn't get any books, but he did have his GameBoy. He was in the reading area by the kitchen.



Josiah didn't understand what Reading Break was, but I told him that he had to stay in Eli's room and play until I said he could get up. I gave him a little LeapPad, and he was fairly content.



Milena was in the upstairs living room, playing her Leapster. Headphones on, to keep the volume down. Basically, Reading Break is a time for me to either get some things done, or to just relax without having the kids demanding things from me. Sometimes I'll even take a shower. (although I try to keep that to a minimum)



Kelson was in his room playing with foam animals and Star Wars people. A natural combination.



Jonny was in Koleman's room playing with the big LeapPad. He was very good about Reading Break, but he was also the oldest one at home (Koleman was at school).



Jorgen was downstairs playing with Imaginext. He wanted to know when it was going to be done, so I told him "Fifteen minutes." That's pretty much my standard answer all the time. It's great that these kinds can't tell time. Reading Break essentially lasts as long as I think I can drag it out for. If they are getting antsy, I'll tell them that it will be done in two minutes, which generally will settle them down so I can get another ten or fifteen minutes out of it.



On this day Reading Break was over an hour long.

Good times.