For parents, however, Friday frequently means family members are all going in different directions until Sunday. It also means surprises, such as "Dad, I'm not going to be home tomorrow" Or "Mom, great news! My three best friends' parents all said they could stay over! They will be here for dinner tonight, and breakfast tomorrow, then we have to take them home." How do you plan for something like that? You don't.
Weekend survival, for parents, is all about flexibility.
We started out with a strict "No same-day plans" rule. If you want to invite someone over, it has to be completely arranged the day before. If you plan on going to the movies, you have to tell us, the previous day, what movie you are going to see, when, where, and how you are getting there and home again.
Did I say strict? Lol.... Remember, flexibility is key here. The only thing the rule really did for us was give us the option of saying "No" when we were informed of some plan at the last minute. Mostly, though, we would just say, "Ok. But NEXT time, ask the day before. You KNOW the rules."
So, your best bet is to work with what you have. If your children are in the "more attention" mode, plan some activities for the weekend that you will all enjoy. Throw some blankets and pillows on the floor and watch some classic Disney movies. Cover the kitchen table with newspapers or a disposable tablecloth and paint with edible things (think mustard, ketchup, mayo, relish, chocolate syrup, whipped topping, peanut butter) It is really messy, but oh-so-much fun. A long walk full of "do you see," weather permitting, is a great "get outside" activity. The best part is that if you spend a solid block of time paying attention, you will find that your kids are actually less demanding the rest of the time. Make them the most important thing around.
Once your kids are trying to spend the night away every weekend, it is time to use it to your advantage. Set some ground rules. For instance, the child may only have overnight company one night a month, limit the number of nights the child can stay away from home, choose a set-in-stone time by which they must contact you the next morning. Bad attitude, right up to the time the company is supposed to arrive, or the child leaves to go to the friend's house, will get the sleepover canceled. Again, we weren't nearly strict as we should have been. We had all these rules, but usually, it was just so much easier to cave in... but we did have the rules. (Yes, I am hanging my head in shame. I am sure you will do MUCH better.)
When our older two were teenagers, many of the rules were the same, but we tried to limit the number of sleepovers (for obvious reasons.) The thing with teenagers is, well, they are teenagers. Take a deep breath and hold on tight. And hope you did well enough with them before they got to this stage that they won't be totally crazy for long.
One of our requirements has always been that they have to come home from school and say hello before taking off. Of course, it works pretty well for us, as we can actually SEE the school from the house. There have been exceptions when someone rides the bus home with a friend, but we did enforce this one. Always.
A family calendar, white board, cork board, or even just a notepad kept in the same place all the time will prove priceless, but only if the family uses is consistently. Other coping strategies include keeping some snacks on hand at all times. Hide a jar of peanuts and some microwave popcorn, stick some frozen snacks in the deep freeze under that block of stuff you can't identify. Try adding rice or potatoes, a salad and an extra vegetable to make that roast go further.
Don't forget to have some weekend yourselves. Get a babysitter or arrange for the kids to sleepover at friends' houses on the same night. Go out to eat and to the movies, or pick up carry-out and a new release from Redbox or plan a marathon on Netflix and have a picnic in front of the TV.
And finally, keep the family close on Sundays. Worship as a family. Enjoy some low-key time in the afternoon. Stick something in the slow-cooker (maybe the Kahlua Pig recipe I posted the other day) or get everyone involved in preparing the meal. Sunday evening, in our house, usually means a lot of laughter and talk about the weekend and the upcoming week. It is a great time to play a board game or watch a family-friendly movie; our kids watched a lot of black-and-white movies, and usually groaned about them, but learned to love them.
Have a fantastic weekend, and don't forget to do something, you know, random!
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