Preteens and a Day Off School

Once your children start school, you will quickly realize that there are very few months without a federal holiday or a professional day. I’m a SAHM-turned-WAHM. On days off school, I have learned to roll with the punches and get creative.

When my children were younger, a day off school was really just another weekend day for them and for me. My children would love playing with their toys on what was supposed to be a school day. Amid the toy playing we would head out to play outside. Sometime after lunch I would put a movie in and we would sit on the couch and watch a movie…fun times. Snow days were even more fun.

Now that one of my children is a pre-teen and one a teen, I have had to rethink the dreaded day off school. Pre-teens only like playing with toys that are attached to a plug or power supply…wii, PS3, Nintendo DS. While playing video games can silence a constantly talking pre-teen, the problem is that kids can get too wrapped up in their games if they play too long. Also, with a single game system, there is the constant calls of “it’s my turn” and “it’s not fair.”

Rules for a Day Off of School 

I have come up with own list of rules for a day off school:

- If mom has work or chores to do, this work must get done. A pre-teen is capable of waiting for mom to be finished.

- If child is home sick from school, TV may be watched in the morning, but after lunch the sick child must go to his or her bedroom for nap, quiet time, or reading. I use this rule for all of my children, so everyone knows that staying home from school is not gavel-to-gavel TV watching.

- When all three children are home from school, video games can be used in 30 minute intervals. Once everyone has had their 30 minutes, the TV and gaming device are turned off and chores commence. I have one child who could play all day without any problems — she loves Animal Crossing, City Folk. My youngest child gets very excited and involved in games such as wii Lego Star Wars, sometimes to the point where he gets upset about plays he cannot make on the game. Bottom line, monitor your child’s video gaming. Once the gaming system is turned off, you will be pleasantly surprised at finding your pre-teen reading a book or drawing a picture.

- A day off school is the perfect day to dispatch each child to their bedroom to change the sheets on their bed or clean their rooms. We are so busy on weekdays with school and homework and on weekends with sports and games that bedrooms and other chores get neglected. Ignore protests of children wondering why their day is cluttered with chores. Too bad.

- Schedule dental or doctor’s appointments on days off school. If you plan on doing this, schedule an appointment for all of your children. Taking children to appointments on a day off school means children won’t miss any time during the school day.

- Play dates. This is a sticky one for me. I love to have my children’s friends over to play. I am just not fond of children coming over on a day off school. I am so busy during the week with getting kids to and from school, that on a day off I would rather not having any other commitments. Also, if I have a friend over for one I really should invite someone over for the other two. Too noisy, too chaotic. My children make enough noiose on their own!

- Homework. I poll my kids at the beginning of the day off to make sure that no one has homework. No video games until all homework is completed.

My kids are home from school today due to a teachers’ professional work day. I need to disconnect all three from wii Lego Star Wars and get some chores done. Wish me luck!

Related posts:

1. Birthday Parties for Preteens
2. School Clothes for Your Preteen Girl
3. Back to School Adjustment Tips for Children
4. Back To School Routines
5. When to Keep Kids Home from School