Stickers, money, high fives, privileges; you name it, I've done it. Chores for five children can be an exhausting trial of patience and holding back. The charts and graphs and money banks and the "store" (that was actually fun) have all worked for a number of weeks but not a permanent solution for a mother that has a hard enough time being organized herself. I prefer a little chaos in my life. Walking through the forest, I love the clutter of leaves, branches, dead trees, ferns, critters, fungus...it just makes me incredibly happy how all this chaos actually creates such beauty. Don't get me wrong, I love the Japanese Gardens in Portland. They are majestic, but to me, a little uptight and constrained. Go figure...I am a free spirit. Unfortunately, my children haven't grasped the concept of restraint and to know when enough is enough. They don't care if there little friends come over and help them clean the bathroom. I have ceased caring and just drop a Clorox drop in into the toilet tank and call it good. They will eventually learn right? I pick my battles. But....
I spent $120 on this system a few years ago. It didn't work for more than a month. The kids get excited and then it fizzles. Why? Because if it's more work for me than the actual chores, their is no way in God's green earth that it makes sense to me to keep on keepin on! So for our Family night, I unburied these little treasures that were gathering dust and decided that if at first you don't succeed, then try try again! Here's to second chances.
3 comments:
Oh Honey! I hear you. My friend Jeanne Hansen over here in Skyline once said about these little programs, "Everything lasts for 2 weeks." It's true.
I bought this $60 thing that was going to change my life. I blogged about it back in Sept. Maybe you remember that thing with the 3 timers?
Oh, it was gold! The kids took it to the playground and came back when it beeped, if they had a time out, they wanted to take a timer with them, Ethan took one when he practiced piano or played on the computer. Gold I tell you!!
Until we hit the 2 week mark. We haven't used it since.
I hate that having to teach children chores is much more time consuming and exhausting than just doing it ourselves. I think one of my top things on my New Year's resolutions is to teach my kids chores. Here's to loads of patience!
Ohhh tell me if it works...I need to do something.
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