taking turns
Ren Allen
"I'm open to suggestions."
Buy another computer. Seriously!:)
I got an emachine for a great price and it's worked fabulous. Their
tech support was great when we were setting it up and having trouble
with the router. Just get some cheap emachine from Best Buy and that
will save you all a lot of stress I bet.
If you really can't do that, then consider allowing each person as
long as they want (reminding them that people are waiting) and get the
other kids involved in some REALLY fun activity. Pull out clay or
playdough, put on a new movie, pull out some fun little toys or games
you've been saving (because you planned ahead and buy little stashes
of things for just such a day), bake a pizza, do whatever it takes to
engage them so they don't feel like they're missing something.
It's hard to be the full-time working parent. Maybe you could have
some activities set up ahead of time that you know they love, for dh
to engage them with? I guess it depends how actively involved he is
and how much tolerance he has for mess and such. I work full-time
also, but I'm fortunate to have a dh that gets it now (not in the
past) and invites the kids into whatever he is doing. Jalen has been
helping Daddy dig in dirt a lot lately, as Markus landscapes the front
yard.
Anyhoo, try to get more technology in your home if possible. Find ways
to engage everyone if not. And try to give them as much time as they
need on these activities so they feel "full" and not needy.
Ren
learninginfreedom.com
Buy another computer. Seriously!:)
I got an emachine for a great price and it's worked fabulous. Their
tech support was great when we were setting it up and having trouble
with the router. Just get some cheap emachine from Best Buy and that
will save you all a lot of stress I bet.
If you really can't do that, then consider allowing each person as
long as they want (reminding them that people are waiting) and get the
other kids involved in some REALLY fun activity. Pull out clay or
playdough, put on a new movie, pull out some fun little toys or games
you've been saving (because you planned ahead and buy little stashes
of things for just such a day), bake a pizza, do whatever it takes to
engage them so they don't feel like they're missing something.
It's hard to be the full-time working parent. Maybe you could have
some activities set up ahead of time that you know they love, for dh
to engage them with? I guess it depends how actively involved he is
and how much tolerance he has for mess and such. I work full-time
also, but I'm fortunate to have a dh that gets it now (not in the
past) and invites the kids into whatever he is doing. Jalen has been
helping Daddy dig in dirt a lot lately, as Markus landscapes the front
yard.
Anyhoo, try to get more technology in your home if possible. Find ways
to engage everyone if not. And try to give them as much time as they
need on these activities so they feel "full" and not needy.
Ren
learninginfreedom.com
Melissa
>Oh! I meant to reply to this...dh works at a university, you might
> Anyhoo, try to get more technology in your home if possible. Find ways
> to engage everyone if not. And try to give them as much time as they
> need on these activities so they feel "full" and not needy.
call a local college or school district and see if they have an
'overflow' dept. We bought one of our PC's for $35 at one, and it
plays all the games that the kids want, and gets online. It's kind of
slow sometimes, but it really works.
As well, for extra computer time, we have dh's work computer set up
so that you log on to get in, and goes to a different desktop for
each person. SO his work stuff is protected, and actually Josh can
use it to save stuff he doesn't want the girls messing up (like RPG's
and stuff)
Might look into some kind of OS that does that.
Melissa
D Smith
I think it was ren, who wrote about a body art book.
what is the title? i wouldn't mind checking it out.
danie
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what is the title? i wouldn't mind checking it out.
danie
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Jessica
I know Linux does this quite well... I'm no linux/computer geek, but the boys' dad is & he's quite good with this stuff & loves to play with different Linux operating systems while I just want something that works well!
In our house, we are working towards getting one or two more computers so that the level of "is it my turn yet?" gets a lot lower... we still probably won't have one computer per person (6 in the household) as I don't think we have enough room for that... Ren, you had a great idea re: letting each person have as much time as they want while reminding them that other people are waiting for a turn on the computer, while having interesting things going on for the others who are waiting.
I considered giving each person a "day" when the computer is theirs when I'm not using it... (I'm sharing mine with the boys)... don't know if that will work or not.
Originally we tried having each person have a certain amount of time, but that didn't work because the youngest would be really frustrated because time doesn't mean anything to him yet... he's 4 and will say he wants 4 minutes <lol>...
Last night, one of the boys asked "is it my turn yet?" several times while the 4 yr old was playing on the computer & I said "let him have some fun. watch the movie with us" (we were watching Spirited Away for the 3rd or 4th time...from Netflix)... I still had not gotten to a point where I figured out how to work things out so that everyone would have the time they want since we still don't have the other computer(s) we're hoping to get (and we still probably won't have enough computers, we'll still have to figure out how to share)...
My older son said that the youngest was going to turn out like Veruca, the little girl in Charlie & the Chocolate factory whose father gave her everything she wanted... and after he presented her with the golden ticket to go to the chocolate factory, she said "Daddy. I want another pony" or something like that... and later when she wants one of Willy Wonka's trained squirrels, the movie shows the squirrels deciding she is a bad nut, etc...
I told him he won't turn out like Veruca! <grin> He just doesn't grok the concept of time yet... Heck, if we don't talk about it, only Gary or I will know what day it is... we've got a calendar, but don't always look at it... the twins (11) MIGHT know what day it is & I know Evan will keep track during soccer season cuz he doesn't want to miss a game or practice!
Anyway we're still working out good ways to share the computer... hopefully we'll have more computerage in the house in the next few weeks or so...2 more would be ideal: one for the older 2 and one for the younger 2... the 3 oldest ones are looking forward to setting up a version of Linux on the computers!
Cheers,
Jessica
> As well, for extra computer time, we have dh's work computer set upWe have my computer set up with a separate account for everyone & several of the files/programs have permissions set up so some files are accessible to all and some are accessible to the owner of a specific account...the modem & printer are networked together so we don't conflicts over who is online or getting something printed out...
> so that you log on to get in, and goes to a different desktop for
> each person. SO his work stuff is protected, and actually Josh can
> use it to save stuff he doesn't want the girls messing up (like RPG's
> and stuff)
>
> Might look into some kind of OS that does that.
In our house, we are working towards getting one or two more computers so that the level of "is it my turn yet?" gets a lot lower... we still probably won't have one computer per person (6 in the household) as I don't think we have enough room for that... Ren, you had a great idea re: letting each person have as much time as they want while reminding them that other people are waiting for a turn on the computer, while having interesting things going on for the others who are waiting.
I considered giving each person a "day" when the computer is theirs when I'm not using it... (I'm sharing mine with the boys)... don't know if that will work or not.
Originally we tried having each person have a certain amount of time, but that didn't work because the youngest would be really frustrated because time doesn't mean anything to him yet... he's 4 and will say he wants 4 minutes <lol>...
Last night, one of the boys asked "is it my turn yet?" several times while the 4 yr old was playing on the computer & I said "let him have some fun. watch the movie with us" (we were watching Spirited Away for the 3rd or 4th time...from Netflix)... I still had not gotten to a point where I figured out how to work things out so that everyone would have the time they want since we still don't have the other computer(s) we're hoping to get (and we still probably won't have enough computers, we'll still have to figure out how to share)...
My older son said that the youngest was going to turn out like Veruca, the little girl in Charlie & the Chocolate factory whose father gave her everything she wanted... and after he presented her with the golden ticket to go to the chocolate factory, she said "Daddy. I want another pony" or something like that... and later when she wants one of Willy Wonka's trained squirrels, the movie shows the squirrels deciding she is a bad nut, etc...
I told him he won't turn out like Veruca! <grin> He just doesn't grok the concept of time yet... Heck, if we don't talk about it, only Gary or I will know what day it is... we've got a calendar, but don't always look at it... the twins (11) MIGHT know what day it is & I know Evan will keep track during soccer season cuz he doesn't want to miss a game or practice!
Anyway we're still working out good ways to share the computer... hopefully we'll have more computerage in the house in the next few weeks or so...2 more would be ideal: one for the older 2 and one for the younger 2... the 3 oldest ones are looking forward to setting up a version of Linux on the computers!
Cheers,
Jessica
Deb
--- In [email protected], Jessica <patchworkgirl@...>
wrote:
(in their cases to keep out dust and such) under beds, next to beds,
beside the sofa, wherever. Add in a wireless router to serve as the
connection to the printers and Internet and such and you're good to go
anywhere in the house. (it's also really handy to be able to pop up a
laptop in the bedroom when you're watching a movie and going "I know
I've seen that actor before - where was it?" and you can jump onto
imdb and find out)
--Deb
wrote:
>Laptops don't take up a whole lot of space and can easily be stored
>
> In our house, we are working towards getting one or two more
>computers so that the level of "is it my turn yet?" gets a lot
>lower... we still probably won't have one computer per person (6 in
>the household) as I don't think we have enough room for that
(in their cases to keep out dust and such) under beds, next to beds,
beside the sofa, wherever. Add in a wireless router to serve as the
connection to the printers and Internet and such and you're good to go
anywhere in the house. (it's also really handy to be able to pop up a
laptop in the bedroom when you're watching a movie and going "I know
I've seen that actor before - where was it?" and you can jump onto
imdb and find out)
--Deb