We have managed to reach week #3 of our Summer Mail system and it's still going strong. I think the kids are enjoying having their little checklists each day and I hear them throughout the day saying they have X number of chores left or planning when they're going to do what's left on their list. One day Maverick was getting a little anxious about finishing his list because he had been at a friend's house playing all afternoon and had a swim meet that evening. I'd say those little slips are somewhat motivating!
It's all about time management! And that's probably one of the hardest parts of this system for them to deal with... The first week, they would wake up before 7:30 and by 8:30 had attempted to complete every task on their list. Ummm. That sort of defeats the purpose of the system! Some of their jobs, like unloading the dishwasher, wiping the counters and sweeping the kitchen floor are all meant to be done at the end of the day, not at 8am! There were also some morning the first week that I had 85 requests for a printed color sheet or a new math sheet or whatever before the Keurig had a chance to brew my first cup of coffee. That first week was rough with lots of slow down's, it can wait's and mom's not ready for you to do that's!
They've settled in by now and aren't in such a rush to get it all checked off. Now their biggest struggle is keeping up with their little checklist sheet. Oceans of tears have been shed as panicked children have searched the house high and low for their checklists at the end of the day. Hence today's sign!
These are their 'relatively' clean boxes. You can that one child didn't read today's sign and follow instructions...
Harper has been the happy recipient of quality time from her brothers and sister as a result of this little system. I can't tell who has more fun playing together - her or them! Some days they build magna tile trains and crash them into the walls. Yesterday they decided to bury each other in piles of stuffed animals. That's only fun until your mother tells you to clean it up! I am getting cheated a little with this system because often two kids do their 30 minutes together. Instead of a full hour of Harper being entertained, I only get 30 minutes. Oh well. I'll take what I can get.
Hearing the big kids happily, well sometimes happily, playing together gives this mama some hope that these kids might enjoy each other as they get older. There are lots of know it all's and ultra competitive people who live in this house so the smack talk is through the roof most days. I can't imagine where they picked up these traits! When this bunch sits down to play a game, at least one child is a victim to 'cheating' or some other unfair set of rules. Other days, it's a peaceful endeavor. The fact that they have to communicate with each other about whether or not they have played their game for the day is huge! Lots of life lessons secretly lurk in this little summer mail experiment. Cue evil laugh!
So there we are! Over two weeks in and still going somewhat strong!
How's summer going at your houses?
No comments:
Post a Comment