Back to blogging

So after a 3 month hiatus I am back to blogging. I have missed blogging and reading others blogs BUT I didn't dare get started because I often get "lost" in the blog land. However I have realized (as I am sure most of you already know) that blogging gets me to focus on all the "little things" and the FUN in life. The act of writing and sharing my gratitude and JOY for these things changes me. So I am super happy that life has settled down enough that I can squeeze this in.

There are so many fun things to share but since catching up is kind of like catching up on scrapbooking - I will take it slowly. I did want to share my new mommy organizing tricks. I found the ideas on http://www.meckmom.com/ (thanks pua). These 3 ideas not only kept me sane, during all the changes with my job, BUT it changed the tone in our home too. YEAH!

"Job" Charts -

So I took her idea and tweeked it a bit. I made one chart for each girl with their daily routine (prayer, making bed, packing backpack, setting out clothes, homework - you get the idea). I just felt like if I called this "the job chart" my girls would hate doing the necessities. We just use it as a checklist. Then I made a seperate chore chart. They are made on foam board and with velcro. The girls move the icons from one side to the other. Most of the icons are on Meck Mom but I made a few of my own just by dropping my image in her chart. It was so easy and the girls enjoyed helping me making them and personalizing their chart.

Stacking Baskets -

So everyday either before or after dinner (depending on the hunger level of my family) I call "stacking baskets". My girls get the baskets (everyone has one except for Helaman) and spread them out in the living room. Then we run around the house and pick up anything that is not where is should be and it gets put into the basket of the person that left it out. When everything is picked up we count up the number of items in each basket. We keep track of each person's amount each day and at the end of the week the person with the fewest amount of items gets 1 dollar (totally worth it). I love this because the cleanup is less and less, it holds each person accountable for what they left out and it is a FAST and FUN way to get the house clean. I found these baskets at Walmart for about $2.15. (called stash box on meck mom)

Sticker Rewards -

This is the BEST idea of all. I can not tell you the number of "reward systems" I have tried. However it always seems to fizzle mainly because stickers get lost or the chart gets played with or it is too much work. This has eliminated all of that and still allows me to focus on all the great and wonderful things my girls do. I reward them for anything and everything - assisting a sibling or me, random acts of kindness, etc . . . I also use it to break bad habits. Here's how it works - I got a book of stickers from Walmart and then took one sheet and cut it into three parts. In the cupboard, I taped one part for each child and then let each child select a reward (extra play time, pick family fun, Book club book, etc. . . ). The ingenius part is that I pull off the sticker and then give it to them - where it ends up does not matter (as long as it is not on the walls or furniture). When the stickers are all gone they have earned their reward. No more lost stickers.