Family Rules - We don't have a lot of these, but the ones we do are pretty important. One rule, of course, is no hurting/fighting. This is the one INVIOLABLE rule that will result in swift consequences. Fortunately, we don't have a lot of trouble with this with our kids. Even the new boys are not having much trouble with this.
Well, except for that little incident the other week :-/
Clean up after yourself - basically, if we find something where it doesn't belong, we ask who left it there and the offending party is responsible for putting the item where it belongs. Much more of a teaching role with all of our kids. With the new boys, if we know it is something they left out, we will take care of it for them at times. There is one particular area with this rule that one of the new boys is struggling with. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to narrow down which one is responsible. Neither of the boys will admit to being the culprit. While I understand that they might fear getting in trouble, we have tried to explain this, but without much success yet. Right now, we end up helping one or both of the boys clean up. I'm hoping we can get this particular issue resolved soon as our bio boys aren't real happy about the results.
Limited Screen Time - This one has almost completely gone out the window. Computer access to Chinese games, tv, movies is a connection to all that they left behind. Plus, their handheld video games are used alot. We have allowed a significant amount of this with the knowledge that we will slowly limit it over time. After about a month home, we actually limited the computer access to one hour (outside of school time) and that has gone well. However, the handheld game time went up as a result. We are working on this. We understand that in the SWIs, the kids had a LOT of TV/Computer access and really didn't learn to "play". So we are working on this. We try to make sure they get lots of outdoor physical activity during the day as well. The biggest struggle in this area has been with our bio boys. They want just as much screen time as the new boys and that isn't happening. We have allowed them more than normal, but they are jealous. Ahh, the joys of parenting :-)
3 comments:
I had to laugh over the house picture. At first I was thinking, what in the world happened there. I can see why your kids are upset. Glad to know that is not your house.
Totally hear you on the screen time. For Nathan, electronics/TV/computer is something he can do that isn't verbal. BUT it's also his way of withdrawing from things. I am really struggling with this too because all my kids want to game/watch TV all the time. We didn't even have any game systems till 2 years ago...kinda wish I had kept it that way.
TV time (movie and PBS kids) are the hardest to stop here. The kids aren't allowed to "game" during the week. No handhelds etc. They are addicted. Our kids have a long list of chores for morning and night .. all kids need responsiblity - good job.
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