I used to shy away from the idea of pairing up my older kids with my younger kids in what is commonly called, “the buddy system,” among larger families. This is the thought of pairing up one older child with a younger one so that the older is responsible for bathing, changing diapers, brushing teeth, helping with getting dressed and so on. To me, this seems like a lot for the older children to take on. Especially since my older ones are only preteens. And boys. I feel like, I am the mom so I shouldn’t put too much responsibilities on them. Since this concept put such a bad taste in my mouth, I kind of headed toward the other extreme and attempted to do every little thing myself, at least when it came to the little ones.
Now that my little ones don’t nap as much anymore our homeschooling situation has changed drastically. I no longer have the mornings free to focus on the older ones and their schoolwork. Therefore, there had to be a shift. I realized that I do need the older ones help! Just not as much as the buddy system concept implies. Of course I don’t throw them the little ones and say they are fully responsible but I do assign times during the day where each of the older siblings will watch one of the younger ones. It is strictly playtime but the older one has to exhibit leadership skills and know how to put their foot down to keep things in line with the younger ones. The first thing I did to make it “fun” for everyone involved is I went to the Dollar Tree and picked up a small laundry basket. I then filled it with all kinds of toys that my one and three year old would like. Mostly balls, bats and cones for them to ride their bikes around. Then, when the older child is assigned their time they can pick something from the basket and come up with some sort of fun game for the little ones. Maybe they will make a course for the little ones to ride their tricycles around or a game that involves different colored balls. The older ones enjoy the break from school and then we can call it “gym time” because they certainly do run around during this time! Of course I do require extra exercise from the older ones throughout the day too. Interestingly enough, this exercise time has also turned into a “sibling time” but a different kind of one. Each of the older children are required to walk a certain course that I laid out around our property. Depending on their age, is how many times they have to walk (or run) it each day. Let’s just say my twelve-year-old is not too thrilled about this set up. Regardless, oftentimes some of them will pair up and enjoy walking around together chatting and laughing along the way. It’s a great opportunity for them to bond and who knows, maybe this will be a habit that they will want to continue later on in life!
