We have that fairly regularly around here.  If the kids are fighting a lot, or pushing the boundaries a lot, or the noise level is rising drastically…. I declare “Bedroom Time”.  They all have to go to their own rooms for an undecided amount of time with their doors shut.  They can be loud if they want, they can listen to music if they want, whatever.  They just have to have their door shut.  After a while, if they ask to play together, they can, but doors still have to be shut.  This accomplishes a few things.

1. It gives me a break.  It makes the house peaceful and I have the opportunity to actually not speak for a while.

2. It gives them a break.  No fighting, no one picking at them, they have their own space.  Then they actually remember that they DO like playing together.

3. It provokes their imaginations.  When they are alone, I notice their imaginations are much more active.  Eli gets out his Legos and goes crazy.  Ada will have all (and I do mean all) of her little princesses, fairies, ponies, and stuffed animals out on her bed, creating a magical world.  Grace is usually either reading or writing something.  They have very different interests, so when they play together they usually argue about what to play.

And one important note: I don’t ever make them clean during Bedroom Time.  They’ve gotten used to it, so they don’t argue anymore when I announce it.  The first few times I had to assure them that it wasn’t a time out, or a consequence, it was just to make the downstairs quiet, and give them time to play by themselves.

Of course I just had to go upstairs because Eli went in Grace’s room and her response was to push him to the ground.  The system isn’t perfect…