Monday, July 28, 2008

Summer Plan


WARNING: This post is more for me than anyone else.

I wanted the girls to have some responsibilities this summer so I came up with this checklist:
Daily checklist
*** Make Bed
*** Get Dressed (clean up PJs)
*** Eat breakfast
*** Brush teeth
*** Say morning prayers
*** Clean room
*** Do one chore from the jar
*** Read for 30 minutes today

In the beautiful jar Hallie made for me for Mother's Day (pictured above) is a bunch of chores they pick from like:

*** Empty 4 garbage cans

*** Wash front and back door windows

*** Sweep front porch

***Clean out a closet

*** Dust

*** Help with dishes

*** Vacuum one room

*** Shake 4 rugs outside

*** Help clean kitchen (ask mom what she wants you to do.)

*** Wash counter, sink, and mirror in one bathroom

*** Wipe leather couches with damp rag

*** Sweep laundry room

*** Wash 2 walls

They have to finish the checklist (with the exception of reading which we usually do after lunch to give all of us some "quiet time") before they can play.
Anyway, it's been working great (which is why I'm writing this post, so I will remember all of this next summer)!

This morning one of the girls had the chore "help mom with the dishes" and I gave her the job of cleaning the 2 pots from last nights dinner. She, of course, was not happy with this chore and the whining started so I did what I always do when they complain about doing dishes and told them about how "when I was a kid we didn't have dishwashers and we had to wash every single dish by hand and my mom wanted to make sure the dishes were clean so she would fill the sink with scalding hot water so we would burn our hands as we..." You know the story.
This morning after I was finished Hallie turned to me and asked, "Mom, did they even have sinks when you were a kid?"

4 comments:

Scott Law said...

Let's see??? 1978, yup that's probably the year they were invented.

Love, Dad

Jeanne Bee said...

The water must not have been too hot because Melissa said she would wash all the dishes rather than take piano lessons.

Melisa said...

Oh no! are we that old already? The was (blank) invented when you were a kid questions are not supposed to happen for another 10 years.

Andrea G. said...

I love it! Is there an age limit on your 'summer plan'? Ha,ha.