But, lately I've been feeling like I'm a dog chasing my tail when it comes to keeping my kids busy and making sure they finish their tasks.
This is the solution I've come up with:
I made each child a very detailed list and routine for each portion of our day.
For example, my oldest child's morning routine looks like this:
1. Go potty.
2. Make your bed with your brother.
3. Put your robe on.
4. Go downstairs and eat breakfast, put away your dishes.
5. Go upstairs and brush your teeth.
6. Get dressed.
7. Clean up your room.
8. Take a load of laundry downstairs and start it.
etc..............................
Now, I also realized that I need to have very specific lists for each task I want the boys to accomplish.
Here is my How To Clean Your Room step-by step instruction sheet:
1. Pull everything out from under your bed into the middle of the floor.
2. Pick up everything on your floor and toss it into the Clean-up Basket.
3. Clear off table and put items into Clean-up Basket.
4. Get everything out from your closet floor and put into Clean-up Basket.
5. Now, take each item out of the Clean-up Basket and put it away:
Hang up clothes that need to be hung up.
Fold and put away clean clothes.
Dirty clothes go into the dirty clothes basket.
Put away books on bookshelf - make sure they are straight up and down.
Put away toys.
Put away crayons and coloring books.
Throw away the garbage.
6. Sweep your floor and throw away the trash.
7. Turn off your light - you are done!
I also made a detailed checklist for doing the laundry. Any chores can be written out this way in a step-by-step, very detailed fashion.
I printed out each routine - morning, lunch, bedtime - and chore checklist on cardstock which will then be laminated. This way they can use a dry-erase marker to check each item off and develop a routine so that no matter what time we get up - on weekdays or weekends - these very basic things will be done, in order and there will not be any little boys running around in their jammies until noon with their half-eaten breakfast still on the table.
1. Pull everything out from under your bed into the middle of the floor.
2. Pick up everything on your floor and toss it into the Clean-up Basket.
3. Clear off table and put items into Clean-up Basket.
4. Get everything out from your closet floor and put into Clean-up Basket.
5. Now, take each item out of the Clean-up Basket and put it away:
Hang up clothes that need to be hung up.
Fold and put away clean clothes.
Dirty clothes go into the dirty clothes basket.
Put away books on bookshelf - make sure they are straight up and down.
Put away toys.
Put away crayons and coloring books.
Throw away the garbage.
6. Sweep your floor and throw away the trash.
7. Turn off your light - you are done!
I also made a detailed checklist for doing the laundry. Any chores can be written out this way in a step-by-step, very detailed fashion.
I printed out each routine - morning, lunch, bedtime - and chore checklist on cardstock which will then be laminated. This way they can use a dry-erase marker to check each item off and develop a routine so that no matter what time we get up - on weekdays or weekends - these very basic things will be done, in order and there will not be any little boys running around in their jammies until noon with their half-eaten breakfast still on the table.
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Project {Create A Home} writers!
This is fantastic. It's so hard to establish a routine that works. You'd think I would have that one down by now.
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