Sextuplet Identities: Elementary Childhood

According to our favorite parenting book, The Process of Parenting by Jane Brooks, as a child gets older, spending time with them declines from when they were young, but its important not to lose sight of their needs and show interest in what they are doing. We completely agree, especially with sextuplets, because of the time commitment needed when children are young progresses into time that is optional to spend with them. When children hit ages between 5-9, spending every second with them just to make sure they are safe is not as necessary.

There is freedom on both ends to spend time individually, but children still need to know that they are a parents priority and feel that their parents are proud. With our family, we decided to start something called "Mommy-Daddy time" This is when we take at least an hour or two each with of our kids, spending time with them doing whatever they want to do. This enhances their individuality by giving them time without their siblings to do what they really want to do, and know that we support that and are proud of them. It gives them a sense of security knowing that we are doing this activity with only them and allows them to escape any influence that would come from being around their siblings.

Brooks research also indicates that parents need to encourage new skills, new activities and growing interests in friends. This is extremely important with sextuplets in the ages of 5-9 because they are all going to need acceptance and approval from both parents and siblings with friends. Breaking off from a childhood of not really needing anyone else but your five other siblings and parents is a challenge and parents need to be very accepting. Going to elementary school, classes start to change, and so do interests; and the children will make new friends based on these occurrences. Research suggests it is important to encourage your sextuplets to make new friends and assure them that your relationship and their relationship with their siblings wont be tarnished by adding others into the picture.

With our children, Jon was the first one to have a friend come over for a play-date. We made sure to make his friend feel welcome, and encouraged the kids to all get to know him. We also made sure to talk to the rest of the kids about how our family will remain close even with others involved.

Another thing we tried to do with our kids was get them into different activities that were interesting to them, but kept them active. According to PBS, kids are becoming less active and eating more, and at the elementary level, it sets a trend for life. This age is the time to try and change their lifestyle. For us, giving the kids support for their own activities during mommy-daddy time or during their free time helped them stay really active and happy. It was also fun for us, keeping us active with them!

♥J&K