Day 361: Slight motivation

Another quiet home day, except for the kids feeling bored without 809 hrs of electronics.  Yes, we are to that point.  I can suggest all kinds of things, and I do have crafts, books, puzzles, games, etc all available to them.  I have books with suggestions of what to do when you're bored sitting out ready to be read.  I know I'm not the kind of mom that sits down and really plays with the kids.  My mom wasn't either, but somehow, I managed to use my time wisely and played and read and listened to music and read read read.  So, I know kids can do it.  Because of all the bickering, I'm declaring tomorrow and Thursday no electornics days.  I'll have to engage them more, but that's ok.  I was able to do some of my own projects today once I got up out of my desk chair.  I'm not very motivated at times either.

I do have a lot of pain most days, so either I'm sitting at my computer or I'm up serving the kids something to eat or doing daily chores.  So, to do anything else physical, even sorting papers or tidying up the school year can become source of quick energy drain.  But, I still got up and once I got started, I got a few things done.  I read someone's blog today who read 122 books last year and 36,000 pages and it's very inspiring to me to try to read a book a month, that isn't a virtual book, podcast, or online blog/article.  I need to be a better model, and I need to do more read alouds with the kids for fun.  So, I've set the goal as a type.  One chapter book a month with the kids and one decently sized book for me per month on any subject.

I do like the fact that I came to this house knowing I wanted all the art supplies and games and puzzles available to the kids.  I was tired them hiding out in the basement of the previous two homes.  It's also a reminder that the knick knacks I decided not to display this year, could be whittled down even further.  I won't be living in a bigger house ever, so I need to stay on task and keep chipping away at these little things.  I do have several boxes from our reverse advent declutter that does equal what came into the house for gifts this year, so that's great!  Just as long as you are counting space that each object takes up and not the sheer number of literally 3,000 new Lego bricks that entered our world here.  Yes, no joke, 1,500 pieces just for Keturah's set alone, plus the set she bought with her own money, and Justin's 5 new sets, plus the 3 new sets he bought right before Christmas.  My kids are great about keeping their Legos picked up, so I don't get mad if I find a stray one here or there.  We use cookie sheets to keep things contained.

Anyway, the youngest two did play with play dough tonight while I was tidying up the dining room and Abishai used his color wonder markers that only work on special paper and doesn't mark up anything else.  Keturah got out her new Chinese art book and spent a good 30 minutes working on things she learned at the children's museum.  Benaiah has done his assigned reading from me and Grandpa.  It's Justin, who is going through puberty right now, that is having trouble finding things to do or getting frustrated at himself because he can't control his temper.  Benaiah did the exact same thing, so I need to find different ways of helping Justin through it.  He's trying, and I need to give him more grace for his efforts.  Just think, I'll know so much about the changes during puberty that Abishai will get to benefit from all that knowledge!

So, there are no pictures for today.  I instead got all the way caught up on picture and video uploading to the internet, and on dvd's, and deleted off of cameras.  Wahoo!  My process of uploading is complicated, but worth it.  Now I'm off to write a letter or two and get to bed.  Tomorrow is a new day!