Surviving My Kids' School Projects

I don't enjoy school projects.  Thankfully our elementary is not as heavy on them as some that my friends' kids attend, but still, there are some.  And there have been times I've started to hyperventilate a bit as I wonder just how I'll survive the projects times 4 kids! 

When my oldest was in 2nd grade I made the decision that I was not going to do school projects for my kids, even if other parents did and even if it meant my kid would have the ugliest poster/science fair presentation/cereal box/etc. in his grade.  But, still, even just assisting in school projects (that should be "child-led" as the teacher instructions often say) is time-consuming and can be frustrating when your child has an idea in his or her mind of what the project should look like but neither of you can figure out how to actually create it!

Was I doomed into spending my Saturday and Sunday afternoons buried in a pile of craft supplies along with a frustrated elementary-aged child?

This weekend as my kindergartener worked on his project to create a shoebox diorama from his assigned book - Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel - I figured out the answer to how I'd survive mothering through school projects for 4 kids.

My 2nd grade daughter came over to the table where I was helping my kindergartener and she started helping because she wanted to.  It wasn't long before I was able to mosey over into the nearby kitchen and start working on dinner while my 2nd grader helped my kindergartener with his project!

There it is folks.  Tangible proof that having 4 kids is not always exponentially harder than having 1 or 2 kids!


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