Household routines for sitters

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Overview

These routines mostly only apply when the kids are being watched at our house. I will try to make an away-from-home routines for kids page...

Morning Stuff

Benjamin gets Stramonium and Zander gets Sulfur, 2-3 tablets each, first thing in the morning. (Benjamin may ask for more; I limit it to 4, not because more would be dangerous but just because it starts to get wasteful.) The bottles for these are in the rack to the left of the kitchen door, on the bottom row, to the right. We usually pour the tablets into the lid of the bottle and then overturn the lid directly into their mouths (skin contact supposedly reduces the effectiveness of homeopathics).

Meals

Zander and Benjamin usually take care of themselves for breakfast.

Our microwave is apparently about 30-50% stronger than a typical microwave, so cooking times need to be adjusted downward, e.g. 3:30 (three and a half minutes) becomes 2:22.

If you feel like preparing something (lunch or dinner): There's Quinoa and spaghetti; B & Z both like spaghetti, All three of them like Quinoa (Zander less enthusiastic, but will eat it or may decide to make something for himself)... B & Z both like frozen pizza (all-cheese or all-meat); Josh usually does, though you can never be completely sure with him.

Pasta-type stuff (and rice) is in the cabinet to the right of the window above the kitchen sink. There are frozen pizzas left in the laundry room freezer.

Rules

This is just the rules that I'm able to think of, typing this at the last minute.

Kids
- No kids in the office without adult permission and supervision. They tend to come in uninvited and sometimes we just don't have the energy to fight about it, but the rule is supposed to be that they ask first.
- No kids in the basement. (I have, at times, allowed Benjamin to follow me down the stairs when I went to get something.)
- No kids in the craft room or Mel's room (these are both locked anyway, and they haven't ever tried to unlock either of them... so far)
- No kids in the master bedroom (where you'll be sleeping, at the end of the upstairs hallway)
- No bullying Josh (many of the toys they like belong to him; unfortunately I don't have a list... but this hasn't been a problem for awhile)
- No being mean to cats (this carries a very stiff point-penalty, and fortunately hasn't been a problem for awhile). "Meanness" includes chasing, hitting, threatening, or swatting at (unless in self-defense).
- The computer downstairs belongs to Zander, but Zander usually allows Benjamin to use it. Josh used to get upset if he didn't get a turn as well, but he seems to have exhausted its novelty; he can always go to his computer upstairs if he needs a computer fix.
- The computer upstairs belongs to Josh, but the others are allowed to use it if Josh isn't (especially if Josh is on Zander's computer downstairs).
- Nobody is allowed to threaten anyone else or hit anyone else with anything, or hit parts of the house with anything (especially the wood parts).

Hopefully you'll be keeping them engaged in other things so they won't get all focused on computer games ;-)

Cats
- Cats must stay indoors. Not allowed in basement, either (if you go into the basement for anything, be careful that the door has latched). If a cat somehow does get into the basement, just leave the door closed until you hear piteous meowing an hour or two later. Pip is the most likely animal to try "escaping" into the basement; Kestra hasn't done it in a long time.
- Cats are generally fed twice a day, one half-scoop each from the food in the cabinet under the sink and to the right (near the wall). Benjamin can show you, and might even do the feeding himself. (We encourage this.)
- Cats should be kept out of the laundry room if possible; they sometimes take liberties with the dirty clothes on the floor or the clean clothes in bags, baskets, etc. In general, keep the door closed; if a cat manages to get in, and can't be forcibly removed, then leave the door open and check back 5-10 minutes later.

Points

We have a "points" system for rewarding good behavior and discouraging bad behavior. It needs some revamping, but Z & B have certain things that they do for which they may ask for "points". The points-tracking sheet is on the hallway door in the dining area. If they ask you to write down points for stuff they have done, just make a note of the date and what was done (including quantities, e.g. how many clothes were put away or how many cans were crushed; those are the two main things they do). If they misbehave, you can either take points away without warning or use point-penalties as a threat. The range is generally from 1 (little negligent things we're trying to discourage) to 10 (stuff that's a problem and they really should have known better).

Evening Schedule

Sometime before dark (Fri. and Sat.), check outside the front door to see if any packages have arrived. The UPS and FedEx people have lately been very stealthy when they leave stuff, and we occasionally don't discover packages until the next day...

Supper is sometime between 6 and 7. 8:00 is bedtime. Benjamin usually asks for a cup of water after we're done reading, and we never remember to pre-emptively bring one with us when we go up for reading; maybe your memory will work better than that ;-).

We read until 8:30, generally one chapter (or 15 minutes, whichever comes first) from each from their current book, winding up at 8:30 or a little after on non-school nights. After that, we turn off their bedroom overhead light but leave the light by the door on as a night-light. They also sometimes play a sleep-music CD; feel free to turn this down if it is loud. The kids can get up for water after 8:30, but no running around or talking (at least not loud enough to hear). Obviously it's not a big deal if they oversleep, since it's a weekend, but Zander often has trouble getting up in the morning and we don't want to let him get into a night-owl mode.

After finishing with storytime, Sandy brushes Josh's teeth in the downstairs bathroom. Sometimes he will passively resist this, and if you don't feel like fighting with him about it, that's fine. Most times he is cooperative, but every now and then Nick has to physically lift him up off the couch (or bed), get him standing up, and aim him towards the bathroom. At that point he usually goes the rest of the way to the bathroom and doesn't try to escape. The strawberry toothpaste and the blue-handled toothbrush with the yellow bristles (both on the sink) are his. Sometimes you can even get him to do most of the brushing himself.