Today was a beautiful day, one of the last great days of summer
I presume, considering it is officially Fall. Typically, our
house would be filled with the sounds of neighborhood children
playing, laughing, crying, arguing, or being unbelievably quiet.
The quiet times are when I worry most.
However, today because I made the decision to say "no" to
friends my home is filled with much quieter sounds of only my
children instead.
Our home is the primary neighborhood gathering point, which most
days I completely welcome. I am a parent who prefers to know
where my children are, what they are seeing, watching, and
hearing. Occasionally though, I have days like today that I
enforce an official time out to the neighborhood gang, which I
lovingly refer to as a "friend break."
I normally do not mind playing the host, mother, and mediator to
my children's friends, but sometimes it is nice to just have a
family day. Now my children of course at first resist this idea
and whine, "what will I do, who will I play with", and the list
goes on. Their friends also have a hard time initially taking
this news and will eventually end up stopping by or calling a
few hours later to see if the verdict has changed. I've learned
when this happens not to cave, to stay strong and stick to my
decision. Otherwise if the children detect your weakness they
will work unanimously to change your mind. By all means, don't
let this happen as if you do you are setting up the tone for
your next "failed" friend break.
It is important to be patient and amazingly you will often see
an awesome transformation. Your children will start playing with
their own siblings, being nice to each other, and having fun.
The best part is you can actually enjoy some quality time with
your kids since they're no longer concerned with when and whom
they can play with next.
Today, because I chose to say "no" to friends for my children,
we have enjoyed a beautiful family day. We have played
basketball, had intimate chats, buffed, trimmed and painted our
nails and truly enjoyed each other's company. It is also
refreshing to know that my cupboard is still full with snacks
and drink boxes for school tomorrow and won't need to be quickly
replenished.
The best part of saying "no" to friends today was that when I
sat down to write this article my daughter asked me what an
article was. I explained many articles are similar to a story.
She was excited at the thought of writing an article too and so
she did. It was called, "Why I love my Mom!"
My younger daughter colored a picture of flowers for me and
asked how to spell, "I love my Mom". Not bad for a parent who
was in the dog house earlier today for calling a "friend break."
I suggest you call one someday too!
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