4.04.2013

Routines

I wanted to share our "Chore Chart" with you all!  I had a great time making it and deciding how I wanted this to work for my family.  Probably one of the greatest piece of mothering advice I have gotten was from my Aunt Peggy.  She told me when Maren was young to never reward expected behavior.  And I must say that has stuck with me over these last 5 years of being a Mom.  It is hard to stick with this though.  It is easy to give candy when they go to the bathroom or make their bed or brush their teeth (that's ironic! Ha!)---but really---I hope to raise kids that can go to the bathroom without needing a reward, making their bed on their own, and brushing their teeth.  Please know---I am not saying that I have never and will never reward my children--but I do find this wise advice.  And this piece of advice, I had to wrestle with while putting together my chore chart.
I knew that change needed to happen in the Campbell house.  We needed some new things put in place.  If you have spent time here at all, then you are aware of this.  And if I were to be honest, the chaos that comes always begins because of me.  Jen Hatmaker has a new post about what she calls, Stuck in The Duldrums .  She says there, "...the very efforts to lift out are the same things you've lost energy for."  Isn't this the truth!  I have lost the energy to meal plan every week.  To grocery shop.  To clean the house and clean the house.  To wipe the kitchen table for the 18th time before 10am.  To empty the dishwasher for the 5th time.  To fold laundry.  To put laundry in washer.  To forget laundry in washer.  To re-wash previous noted laundry.  To put laundry in the dryer.  To FOLD said laundry!  "For the love of Mary Magdelene!!"  (another quote of Jen's.  I heart you.)
So where did I turn?  The Word of God Pinterest.  Found some truly amazing moms on there that seem to come with some amazing children.  Bless them all.  These are not my people.  This is not my land.  I did find one that I loved the look of (let's get real....pinterest does not have sticker charts)  I also really liked how it also had a way to use it for consequences.  Here is a pic:


So back to the advice.  We do not have chores.  Everyone has routines.  And by everyone that includes me!  Morning routine, afternoon routine, before bedtime routine.  (those are what you see clipped up.  Routines)  Once you finish your routine you get to put a stone in your mason jar.  Once the mason jar is full, you get to choose a reward!  The girls came up with the rewards and we wrote them on popsicle sticks.  But let's say that we are having a moment with back talk, or fighting, whining, etc....then you lose a stone.  We are also holding fast to the "feel free to keep the toys you pick up" mantra.  I am still giving them this reminder but I already see some fruit from it.  They are learning to pick up before moving on to another activity.  I really don't mind them making a crazy house, just need that to be put back together!  So far this has worked great! So what are their routines?
Morning Routine:  Make bed, dress to shoes, brush teeth, eat breakfast
Afternoon Routine:  Set dinner table, pick up morning toys
Before bed routine:  Pick up, lay out clothes to shoes, dirty clothes to hamper, brush teeth, read, pray

How do you do it?  How do you make order happen around your casa???



3 comments:

  1. I love your chart! I also laughed out loud (worth of writing it out and not just saying LOL) when you crossed out God's Word and put Pinterest! God's word would probably help as well, but there are no chore crafts in the Bible. As least not that I'm aware of. My one routine is that I do laundry once a week. With it being only myself I usually only have a load of clothes and then a load of towels. I do make my bed each morning! I need to get in the habbit of picking out my clothes each night, that would help me in the morning. I should also make my lunch each night...that would help as well! Loved the post!

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  2. Great routine chart...it turned out great! I love calling them routines instead of chores! Yay Campbell Family!!!

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  3. I love this so much!! I'm am right there with you, girl. I have lost the energy for all of the things you listed here...in fact, I'm "freshening up" the clothes in the dryer for the fifth time because I keep forgetting about them in there. I need a maid and a cook. ASAP. :) I love the routines you've established, also. Remind me how old your girls are. I would love to start implementing some sort of semblance of order in our house. The boys are about to turn 3, is that too young to expect too much? I feel like it's not but maybe I'm setting my expectations too high.. ?? what do you think?

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