I have been working the last six weeks on a smooth running house. Last night, it really payed off. We take a break from school on Wednesdays for library story time and I do the minimum of chores. Last night after dinner, BuddyCake (boy, 3 years) put in a load of laundry while Bucho cleared the table and I loaded the dishwasher. Hubby snuggled with Button and then took out the trash. We were all done and ready to go to church at 6pm with little fuss or confusion. WHOOO HOOO!
Favorite organizing site: FlyLady.net
So, how have I done it? I am sorry to say, it has been a long and trying adventure to get here and it starts with a fundamental shift in thinking.
What is the most important thing you want to pass on to your kids? Love, joy, peace, happiness, God . . .
What do you want your kids to look like when they are 18 and walk out your door? (or do you want them to walk out your door?)
I inherited a view of childraising that helps me to see my kids as future adults who will have to live on their own and care for themselves. I do not have the means nor the desire to care for them for the rest of their lives.
Hubby (and many others) have seen kids as kids. They need to be loved and coddled, they are irrisponsible and you try to minimize the damage they create no matter the cost.
Now part of both views are true-and you can tell my bias- but there needs to be a happy medium.
They need love, compassionand play AND guidance, discipline and work.
That’s what I love about homeschooling. We really have time for it all. Bucho (boy of 5) plays-a-plenty and still does 1-2 hours of school and chores: pick up toys, empty silverwear, clear table, plays with siblings when asked, makes beds, dusts and vacuums his room, picks up the toys outside.
We don’t argue about whether he does them. He just does. I started him doing these things when he thought they were just fun things to do and it has stuck for the most part. We have had our moments of revolt, but I have won all the battles!
We use an incentive chart that has progressed with age. When he was 2-3 years, he got stickers for each job. 4-5 years, he got points that he had to use to do any fun activity- video games, play outside, TV.
Now he has just started a charts that awards point the same way, but the points translate into money. He has earned about three dollars and is working toward a seven dollar transformer.
Whoa look at the time . . .
