Tis Witching Hour
I’ve been staring at this piece of paper for ten minutes now and I still don’t know what I want to write. Where have all my thoughts disappeared to? Well, the fact that my daughter is riding around the house on her scooter singing at the top of her lungs isn’t helping. It also isn’t helping that my son is busy screaming random sounds at the game that he is playing. And while all this happening little Oreo is scurrying around, desperately trying to escape from Katalina on that noisy scooter. He’s decided that hiding under my chair is safe enough for now.
This is actually the normal soundtrack of our house this time of the evening. Also known in some mommy circles as witching hour. Or was that what the puppy trainer said? I have no idea. It just makes sense when things are happening like they are now. What is witching hour? No, I’m not referring to the time between midnight and 3 AM. I’m talking about the parenting version. That awful time between walking in through the door and dinner. That time when everyone is irritated, tired, over stimulated and just plain crazy.
All you really feel like doing is hiding in the dark somewhere while they get it out of their system. You can’t though as while all this crazy stuff is happening they are shouting demands at you in between. In between you are also trying to get dinner done and the dishwasher packed. It truly is a mad time of the day. I think I also understand wine o’clock a bit better now. We can use that to calm our nerves and unwind a little but what do you do in the case of a child? Below are some of the things I do with my own kids.
Food
The first thing I do when my children walk in the door is feed them. They tend to have quite a big lunch and lots of snacks at school so they don’t really need a large plate of food during the week in the evening. It’s normally something light and quick to get on a plate for them. I do the same. I always have a snack when I walk into the house. I’m sure some expert will say blood sugar has something to do with it. I just know that when I’m hungry I get cranky. Why wouldn’t my children be the same?
Spend Some Time With Them
I’m not saying haul out a 100 piece puzzle. Just sit down and talk with them for a little bit. Show some interest in how their day was and what they got up to. It always fascinates me how parents seem to think that their children’s needs are different to their own. You don’t just come home and not say anything to anyone, do you? You normally chat to your spouse or whoever else is in the house for a little bit before you get busy. Why would it be any different for a child? They also missed you and there were also things that happened in their day that they might want to share with you. If you’re so busy being busy then they won’t want to and that’s just sad in my book.
Let Them Go A Little Nuts
We all need to let off some steam every now and then. It’s good for our souls and if they feel like they want to run around for a little bit and act a little crazy then let them. It will be noisy but I can guarantee you that it will not last forever. Plus, while they’re doing this you can grab that sip of wine or a cup of coffee. Once they’ve got rid of some of that extra energy you can move on to the more relaxed activities for the evening. You can also get going with all that other stuff you need to get done and they will hopefully be a little bit more relaxed and starting to move into a more relaxed state of behavior. You should also feel a bit more relaxed by this stage.
This is just some advice about how I go about it. Each child and home is different. This has just worked well for me and I’d love to hear how other parents out there deal with this particularly challenging time of the evening.
Thank you for reading and remember to keep smiling 😊
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@jusipassetti You have received a random upvote from @transparencybot for not using bidbots on this post and using the #nobidbot tag!
Love it! Sounds just like my home in the evenings, my kid chases our puppy on his scooter too! And sometimes we have witching days, not just an hour of going crazy, but a whole 12 hours!
Thank you @sweetpea. We too had those days when they were both younger. My son in particular was very sensitive to over stimulation. When he was a baby if I took him out to a coffee shop that was too busy then I would sit with hours of witching hour too.
That's awesome @jusipassetti. I don't think I have any better advice than you give here. I'm scribbling down notes, lol.
I like how you start by staring at a blank screen. That's not the way I ever come up with writing ideas. Maybe I ought to try it. ???
Regardless, the second I do sit down to start writing it sets off some kind of silent alarm system. The kids suddenly and quite desparately need my attention for something. :):)
Thank you @inalittlewhile and I'm glad that you found it helpful. Sometimes I know what I want to write before I sit down and sometimes not. I find it inspiring to just start writing and see where it leads me.
I know that silent alarm well, I call it "when mommy's butt hits the chair alarm." It happens every time and I'm happy to hear that I am not alone in the struggle hahaha.
Hey @jusipassetti
Great post.
We only have the one child who is now 15 but I remember back to the days when we also had a dog as well. The place used to hit fever pitch all of a sudden and you think 'why has this just gone crazy?'
Like you have said, sometimes you just have to go with it.
Gaz
That's the only way @cheese4ead. You'll drive yourself nuts trying to stop it. Thank you very much for your support.
You're welcome
I do not have kids yet, but I do see how my mother, sister and brother are teaching the children in our family.
What I can say always helps is, to let your children do some things with you in order to help you get some stuff done and to get some extra energy burnt. For example... Pack the dish washer you mentioned or help bring the groceries out of the car.
Please, please, please just don't call it chores, no-one want to do chores! It's more like... Hey, will you help mommy to put the dishes in quickly?
An extra bonus is that they get to spend more time with you, giving them the opportunity to talk to you about something they wanted to tell you.
Keep on steeming... @sacryptocollect
very nice advice indeed. i can relate to what you are saying.
i wish that kids of nowadays would spend a lot more time reading but that is me being a parent instead of a child!
one day when the witching hour is no more because the kids are out of the house, we shall miss them terribly and wish that time returns.
playing physical games with them works wonders by the way. i do it quite a bit with my ten year old and it always calms her down. She gets to practice her karate and inflict crushing defeats on her most hated opponent (me)!