When our son, Joe, asked us if we could watch his girlfriend, Mary’s, two boys every weekday for a few hours we did not hesitate to say yes. For the summer Mary has the boys except every other weekend. Both Joe and Mary work 2nd shift so they asked if we would watch them from 2-5 every weekday. (They will make arrangements if we have something else going on.) Mary’s mom would pick them up after she gets off work from Beloit, take them back to Beloit till Mary got off work in Janesville, then Mary would pick them up in Beloit and then they would go back home to Janesville. After mulling this routine over for a few days, we decided it would be better for the kids if we watched the kids on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 2-11. It just did not seem like much of a summer for the boys to spend all that time on the road. So we began this new endeavor this past Tuesday.
I want to try to give the boys a little more to do than just play on their own or watch cartoons all day. While they have their snacks I have worksheets, coloring or puzzle sheets for them to do. I would like to get them to spend time reading. too. This week I thought we would make sugar crystals and go on a nature walk with a bingo sheet to find various plants and critters. We plan a trip to the Henry Vilas Zoon in Madison and the Discovery Center in Rockford. Another thought I had was to have them take pictures and we would edit, print and frame some for their room at home.
We’ll see how it goes.
