As I find myself at home with the kids during the day – but also trying to get work done both around the house and as a freelance web geek (anyone need a blog design?) – I often am challenged to find distractions for the kids. NikkiZ is easier in 30-minute doses as she’ll watch a TV show quietly while I work. AndyZ, however, is unmanageable during that 30 minutes because he thinks there is nothing more boring than sister watching TV. So, not really helpful for me. Therefore, I often find myself allowing them certain scopes of destruction to keep them entertained. Sometimes they’re playing with their chalkboard on the screened-in porch, dirtying up clothes, hands, faces and floors. Sometimes they’re playing with the nineteen million pieces of play dishes and food. Other times I give them total free range in their bedroom which results in books off shelves and clothes out of drawers. With any of these destructive activities, we caregivers find ourselves doing the math of the instance. As long as this is the result? You know you made a good call:

Time Given To Work > Time Required To Repair Destruction

Now, for me? I like it to be more advantageous. For it to be a truly successful instance this is the math I require:

Time Given To Work > 3 x Time Required To Repair Destruction

If it took me 15 minutes to clean up their mess? It better have given me 45 minutes of peaceful work time. If it only gave me 30 minutes? I might still revisit the activity in times of desperation. But if it only gave me 20 minutes of work time? Not worth a repeat performance.

And then…the math that will make me feel like a failure for the day?

Time Given To Work < 3 x Time Required To Repair Destruction

So far…that has only happened the one day I thought it would be a good idea to let NikkiZ paint while I worked. Not normally a problem except that she got it on the bottom of her shoes and then, of course, along a path all over my carpet. That was a very dark day, indeed. I got about 15 minutes of time working before she hollered at me after seeing her footprints all over the floor. Thank GOD she noticed after only 15 minutes or it could have been so much worse! Now, it’s water-based paint so it all came up very easily…but still. It took at least an hour to scrub every little footprint she made around the house. And for the 15 minutes of work it gave me? NOT WORTH IT…no matter what math form you study.