At it Again

We currently have the second placement from Safe Families going on in our house. This time we moved in two little girls, age 5 and 7. They fit right in at the end of our line-up of girls, and besides feeling a bit more overwhelmed and a bit busier, this placement has been much easier than the first.

The girls have even been going to their parents for overnights on Saturdays, which gives us a break from extra work, and them a break from strangers! It has worked out really well so far.

We've made sure to keep to a structured schedule. Everyone is up by 8:30 (I don't wake them, they're all just early risers), and as they roll out of bed they get breakfast. We usually have cartoons on at that time, because it's summer and why not. They then get to play for a while. Sometimes they play outside, sometimes inside, and sometimes, with 5 of them, I have half in one place and half in the other.

At 10:00 we have snack. Our school district does a Summer Stretch program, which is some math and reading review during the summer, and the girls came with some workbooks from home too. So as they finish up their snacks, we do 'school time.' Each is allowed to go their own way again after that, and they play until lunch. After lunch we usually get swimsuits and sunscreen on, and play with our water toys. The slip-n-slide is almost always going. We have popsicles at 2:15 and once everyone is done the girls all take turns picking out one of our movies. As they are all over the age of 5, but I still need to have a quiet time (and so do they), they are watching movies. Don't judge. ;)

The movie is usually done at 4:00. We have a snack and they get to play again until supper time. After that is either more play or we do bath time. The girls get to call their mom and dad and then it's off to bed between 7:30 and 8:00.

This schedule has been working amazingly well for us. Discipline issues have been at a minimum, and it's usually just a small tift about who had a toy first. And if it gets any worse than that, it usually means someone needs a nap. We've had two impromptu naps, which made me realize why they were so upset at the time, since they moved in.

I have no real guidelines for how to act online with the kids we move in through SFFC. So I err on the side of caution and do not post their names or any pictures. So you won't be seeing any of that on here.

They have been a blessing. We are so blessed to be able to help people in this way.

In other events, A and C have started their summer tap classes and this week is summer camp. S goes to summer camp in 2 weeks. We visit the local mobile library and go swimming at my parents' pool some nights. It has been low-key and so much lower stress than the first time around. We may actually be getting the hang of this.