People often ask what my kids are into and how I manage all the activities. Managing it all is a constant work in progress, but as far as current interests go, this is how it’s looking:

Number One Son: 12 years old

At the moment, his greatest love of all is Minecraft. His dream would be to either play Minecraft or watch Minecraft YouTube videos at all times. I think he’d even sneak on a pair of “Depends” to avoid bathroom breaks. As such, we have some screen restrictions in our family. During the school week there is no iPod, iPad, Wii or Xbox use. Kids are allowed up to one hour on the computer if homework is done. Considering there is one computer between the six of them, no one ever really gets an hour.

Books – I spent a lot of time fretting in his younger years about reading. It frustrated me that all he would read were graphic novels. Finally, a teacher told me to relax and just be glad he’s reading – regardless of what it was. As soon as I did, he began to enjoy what I consider “proper” books. This summer he read the Hunger Games series and just finished “I Am Number Four” by Pitticus Lore.

Extracurricular –Scouts, hockey, taekwondo and hip hop keep this boy’s mind off Minecraft!

The Multitasker: 11 year-old daughter

This kid functions best with a very full plate. She runs from activity to activity, sport to sport and doesn’t like to miss out on any action. I think of her as a Julie 2.0 of sorts. She’s friendly, fun and delightfully resilient.

Books – She’s covered all the usual tween books: Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Percy Jackson. She devours books but won’t touch anything she considers “girlie”. Her latest favourites have been “Divergent” and “Insurgent” by Veronica Roth.

Extracurricular – hockey, ballet, jazz, tap, Irish dance, violin, school sports

The Sass Girl: 9 years old

This child can be found climbing trees and leaping treetop to treetop – in rollerblades while carrying her fishing rod. She loves anything to do with nature and animals and spends most of her waking hours begging me for a dog. She’s bright as a button, sweet as pie but crazy as hell.

Books – Afraid the Hunger Games will scare her, she’s avoiding them at all costs despite the pressure from siblings and cousins. She knocked off the Harry Potter series in the spring and is now on the fifth book in the Percy Jackson series.

Extracurricular – Cub Scouts, jazz, hip hop, tap, singing, hockey.

Little Lady #3: 7 years old

Currently obsessed with mermaids, she can be found swimming in our pool in the new mermaid tail our neighbour made her. Her favourite TV show, “H20: Just Add Water”, is about three Australian teenagers who are secretly mermaids. When out of the pool, she is obsessing over her “American Girl”. She spends time poring over the catalogue, fantasizing about what outfit she wants her AG to have. When I took her to NYC recently, we spent an obscene amount of time (not to mention money) at the American Girl Place. This AG stuff rubs me entirely the wrong way, but, she loves it and it truly keeps her busy and engaged in imaginative play.

Books – she’s not interested in the books my other girls were reading at this age, which were the Magic Tree House series and Cabin Creek Mysteries. She likes to read the Geronimo Stilton books, which are a step up from Junie B. Jones, who drives me crazy.

Extracurricular – hockey, tap, jazz, hip hop, piano

Little Man: 5 years old

This kid spends a fair bit of time remembering irrelevant numbers and dates. His favourite activity is math quizzes and he gets much pleasure from beating older kids at getting to the correct answer. When he’s taking a break from his math fun, he’s angling a way to play Plants vs. Zombies™.

Books – all that early-reader stuff.

Extracurricular – hockey, taekwondo, tap dancing and piano

The Pint-Sized Dictator: 3-year-old son

This wee man spends most of his time ordering people around and generally being a bossy boots. He likes to tell the biggies that it’s time for them to go to bed. At other times he can be found wandering around the house pretending to be a zombie.

Books –I hold the world record for number of times having read “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”.

Extracurricular – going to pre-school, attending the sports and activities of the biggies, running around arenas, causing trouble.

What are your kids into at the moment? Do you have any kids age-matching my guys? Do they share similar interests?