Kids are Having Fun at Mabel Lake and I Miss Them!!! Empowering them to be Independent.

It's only been a week and a half and I miss the kids so much I want to jump in the car and drive the 6 hours just for a hug and kiss. It's been so long since they were even away from me a day that I don't know what to do with myself now that I have time for me.

I have been busy looking for work but it hasn't taken up all my time. There's work like going through all their toys and sending the bulk of them to goodwill. I can only do chores for so long though.

My husband and I are having a good time and things are getting done around the house but it is so quiet. I now know what retirement will be like -- I better get some more hobbies.

You know that list that most mothers have put together in their mind. You know the one, the list of everything you'd do if you had a moment to yourself. I get to live the dream and all I can think of is what are my kids doing and I wish had some money to go shopping.

My son (he's 9) misses me and my daughter (she's 6) is just fine, loves me but will see me when she comes home. I want them both to have her attitude but at the same time I'm selfish - I want them to have a miserable time because they miss me so much.

My daughter says she's OK because she has her brother. Gramo loves having them at the cabin and because they pretty much take care of each other she finds it really easy. This morning she was sleeping when I called and the kids had gotten up, my son got them breakfast and they were out playing. I've always encouraged them to do things for themselves, right from when they were little. Now they do things for each other and it make parenting so much easier.

Kids can do more than parents give them credit for. 3 year olds can put on their own coats and shoes, they just need to know how. Put the coat on the floor with the inside facing up. Have your child stand at the neck of the coat, bend down put their arms in the arm holes and flip the coat over their head -- VOILA coat is on.

Shoe's on the wrong feet? So what -- will it really damage them? Help them put their shoes on the right feet by getting shoes with images on each side of the shoe. Explain which image looks at the world and which ones talk to each other. If they put the shoes on the wrong feet just ask "Are (the inside image) talking to each other?" Don't tell them they have them on the wrong feet, just ask them questions that will enable them to figure out how to tell which shoe goes on which foot themselves.

I'm fortunate my son teaches my daughter how to do stuff all the time. I was shocked when I discovered she could read Little Critter stories before she left Kindergarten -- my son read to her almost every night and taught her how.

By empowering them to figure out how to do stuff for themselves they have developed the skills of teaching each other.