Author on Parenting Multiple Kids

At one month into the summer, my children are tired of each other. They want me to divide and conquer. Take one child at a time to the store, to put gas in the car, to run to the post office. They simply don't want to be together all the time. Keep in mind, I have four children, three cats, a dog, a husband and several fish. So...there are a lot of breathing bodies to contend with. However, I have been pondering this problem area of togetherness, and here are some thoughts I've come up with:

First, when I grew up, I had one indoor cat and one indoor brother. I loved the cat and tolerated the brother. However, he and I were not cooped up together day after day after day, especially in the summer. When we had time off from school, we hit the neighborhood. He hung out with his friends, and I played with mine. Once in a while all the neighborhood kids would converge at our house, but the general local alternated from day to day. We weren't tied to cell phones. Instead, we wore watches and knew the time that Mom wanted us home for dinner. Some days I'd see my brother at the dinner table and catch some t.v. with him in the evening, but the rest of the day our paths did not cross.

Not so with the kiddos of today in suburbia. Our children have the same square footage to play in each day of their lives. For them to "go outside and play," they open the back door and walk out to our large yard, fenced in on all sides by a 6 foot privacy fence. My children can't even see their neighbors, much less play with any of them. The front yard isn't really an option, especially for the younger kids, as the street can be quiet busy and very few children on our street play in front. We don't even have a basketball hoop on our driveway because it slants too much and the balls would forever be rolling into the street. Thus, our children play with each other in the same space all summer long.

Is it any wonder, then, that they are tired of each other? So what are my options to improve this situation? I could schedule outings for each child with his/her friends. This is true, except that requires me to drive all over God's green earth (literally all over the metro) to the various homes of these said friends. My children do not attend the local neighborhood public school, so all of them have friends spread out over about a forty-five minute drive in all directions from our home. To take and then pick up a child from a friend's home hogs up my entire day, and I simply don't have that time to commit to a play date.

Another option would be that of scheduled family outings. We are trying to do more of that. We take in a dollar movie or a round of bowling. We go on family bike rides and play lots of games. But essentially, the children are still "stuck" with each other. And right now, they see nothing positive about that! Maybe some day they will turn out to be great friends, and that is what I'm praying for, but in the meantime, they are already asking about when school is going to start.

It is a good thing most of them have some intermitten camps, retreats, and outings to look forward to for the next several weeks until they go back to school. My children have always done much better on a routine, so getting back to school will be good for them in many ways, not the least of which is there ability to be away from each other for a good portion of each day.

If you have any other ideas on this subject, please shoot them my way. I need ideas that don't cost money and take up tons of time. Any sanity measures would be most helpful!