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mom2mpr
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| Posted: April 03 2008 at 9:48pm | IP Logged
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I wasn't sure what to title this post. I have 2 dc. Ds is 10 and dd is 5. In some ways they are 2 only children because of the 5 year difference in their ages. If they were in school it would be very true. The nice thing about homeschooling is that they know each other. The hard thing is.... can I say this?... they get tired of each other  Being together ALL day, EVERY day can get...ummmm...old? Ds is an angel and will play horses or dolls but eventually he tires of this and wants to be big and be a boy.
Do others with smaller families find they need to get out more to help the kids socially? To get breaks? To be with more kids?
I am just curious.
Anne
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Paula in MN
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| Posted: April 03 2008 at 9:54pm | IP Logged
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Yes, we do. I have dd9 and ds6. They do refer to each other as "best friend", but definitely look forward to Coop, 4H, even Religious Ed - all opportunities for them to be with other kids.
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 Paula
A Catholic Harvest
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folklaur
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I have a ds9 and a dd5 - I can so relate.
We have no neighborhood kids to play with either, and currently, they don't have a place to play outside either.
I have often wondered if they get "enough" socially too.
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: April 03 2008 at 11:59pm | IP Logged
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I have an 18 yo dd, 12 yo ds, and the rest of the kids are little (6,4,and 2).
I don't worry about the 18yo because she goes to school and has lots of friends. I also don't worry about the littles because they have each other.
It's my 12yo boy that I have to think about. He gets along amazingly well with the littles and never complains, but in fairness to him I do make an extra effort to make sure he gets away from them on a regular basis.This may or may not include being with other kids his age. Sometimes it is his karate classes or spending time with his best friend that gets him some time away. Sometimes it is spending the weekend at grandpa's, hanging out and going to the flea market with him. And sometimes it means leaving the littles with dd and he and I getting away together just to go to the hardware store or something simple like that.
For me it isn't so much about socialization as just seeing that he gets a break from being surrounded by little kids once in awhile, kwim?
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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LucyP
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| Posted: April 04 2008 at 4:38am | IP Logged
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Personally I don't need to get out and about! My mother thinks DS does, as he has only a 11 mo sister to play with - but I do play a lot with the children (one of the nice things of having a small family if you can let the chores go more).
We try to arrange playdates as DS does best in a family setting rather than a bigger group. There are no young children near to us so we have to go looking.
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lilac hill
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| Posted: April 04 2008 at 5:59am | IP Logged
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Our 13 yo is the only one homeschooling so we are very busy with activities. She is a "likes to get her school work done then have fun with her stuff" kind of kid. She likes her activities to include her hobbies and larger group skating and stuff like that. Riding and all that it encompasses has been her focus for the last 10 months and it has been good for her.
Because she is older I tend to "drive" and step back more now (I do not step out completely)so she can develop her own relationship style.
With riding, babysitting and music she does have ther advantage of being in groups that include all ages.
The nice thing is that she takes her experiences back to her special relationships with her sisters.
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Viv
Wife to Rick (7/83), Mom to dd#1(6/87), dd#2(1/90), and dd#3(6/94) in central PA.
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mom2mpr
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| Posted: April 04 2008 at 4:23pm | IP Logged
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Ok--so staying home and resting  ..not an option. That is what I would choose but it appears they need to get out a little more than kids with more siblings. I don't feel so wierd now. I was hoping for more rest though 
So, how do you deal with the "play with me" problem. Dd is 5 and when ds is done playing with her and wants to escape on the computer, I am ON!! She can play by herself some but needs more interaction than she did in the past. I think a lot has to do with that preschool/K age social learning. But doing Ds's activities and school and playing with her leaves the house a wreck! And can anyone tell my why, oh why, after a playdate, when Momma is tired out and they have played with others a few hours, they must play with me still?
Anne
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mom2mpr
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| Posted: April 04 2008 at 4:26pm | IP Logged
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lapazfarm wrote:
For me it isn't so much about socialization as just seeing that he gets a break from being surrounded by little kids once in awhile, kwim? |
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This is so true and most families we know have "littles" so when we get together ds is surrounded again by little kids. Really he is good with them and patient, to a point. Then he is bored and cranky and hanging around me wanting to leave. I need to work on this for him. Thank you Theresa for opening my eyes....
Anne
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4Real Forums : Mothering and Family Life
Topic: Challenges of few children
