Save My Sanity

Help wanted! Wait no, scratch that, help NEEDED!

With the shorter school year for preschoolers, summer has already begun here in Mommyland. Less than two weeks into our summer vacation and I’m already about to lose my damn mind. My boys are driving me coo coo for Cocoa Puffs.

First off, they have this amazing inability to play nice. I hear about other siblings who will sit and play together or cuddle on the couch and watch TV or a movie together…Not my children, they beat on each other like they’re in a cage match and the entire house is their cage. We have a basement chuck full of toys that they refuse to play with. They’ll dump them on the floor then throw then at each other and the walls, but actually play? Never. When they’re not in the basement, they are on the first floor driving me nutty. Fighting, running around, getting under foot while I’m trying to get things accomplished, throwing bouncy balls in the living room, if there is trouble to be found, they’ll find it. Or even worse than the trouble they find on the first floor is the trouble they find on the second. Snuggle Puppy once got a bath in the sink with hand soap, and my makeup bag was ransacked just to name two. I really do make it sound like my children have no supervision don’t I? Well, I promise they do, but first of all, they’re quick, and secondly they use opportunities like me using the bathroom to change locations undetected.

When we moved to The Hill I had visions of sending them out in the back yard to play while I tidied up inside. Forget that, they can’t even manage to stay in the back where I can see them, they wander all over the place. We have a giant swing set out back, I mean the thing is huge, but they don’t play on it anymore. I saw them spending hours out there swinging and sliding and swinging and sliding…Once again, the vision I had when we first moved here was not to be. Five minutes out by the swing set and they’re throwing mulch at each other and pushing each other down the slide (and not in a nice way).

I need some ideas here, how do I get these kids to not only play nice but keep occupied? I enjoy playing with them, but it’s just not always a possibility. My boys seem to get board very easily, so I’m looking for ideas to keep them happy and active during these long summer months. I’m not only looking for ideas for the outside, but I could use a few fun inside activities for those rainy or just too damn hot to go outside days. I’m afraid I am terribly uncreative and that is why I come to all of you with this desperate plea. Got a website full of crafts? Send me a link. Got a can’t miss toy that’ll keep them playing outside? Tell me what it is so I can go buy it. At this point, I’ll try just about anything. At the rate we’re going I’m going to be in a padded room by September (probably sooner).

Am I alone out here? Are my kids the only ones who spend their days beating the crap out of each other? Are my kids the only ones who get board thirty seconds after going outside to play? If I don’t get some help, it’s going to be a VERY long summer.

I thank you in advance for anything you are able to offer.

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