At the end of the day we usually have a down time after dinner chores and before family worship when I can catch my breath and rally everyone to brush their teeth and if I'm doing really good, floss everyone under 10. But I have had such a hard time remembering to make everyone brush their teeth in the morning after breakfast. It feels like we eat, we clean, and then everyone dissolves away! The boys are outside, the girls are reading, or I don't know! They are gone! And I'm glad because I gotta start laundry or do early prepping for dinner or check email or some other chore. But I wanted to start cultivating the habit of brushing after breakfast. I kept thinking if there was some way to contain all of them until I had made sure to calm down enough to think, then I would remember to make them do it! After considering this problem for weeks I ran an idea passed Tender to see what she thought. She agreed with me and so we tackled it. I put laminated (not really, paper taped over with packaging tape, I don't have a laminator) tables on the wall, one for each of the five older kids. There are three empty boxes for each day of the week. One for AM brushing, one for PM brushing, and one for flossing. So when they believe they are done with their after breakfast chore I tell them to "go to their mark on the wall" and wait. So for instance, The Boy has to clear the table, wipe it, and push the chairs in. When he thinks he is done he goes to his mark. When I walk passed and see him there I know I need to double check his chore. I usually have to send him back to push in chairs or wipe better. When he believes he is done with that, he goes back to his mark again. I'm still moving, checking other people. cleaning breakfast off of babies and so on. So when I happen to see him waiting again, I triple check him. If he is actually done I send him to brush his teeth. When he gets back, he uses a dry erase marker to mark his AM brushing on whatever day it is. Once I make my way over to make sure he has marked it off he is free! And the other four are doing the same at the same time. Typically I assign Tender or Hurricane to help Hulk brush his teeth. We have been trying to implement this habit for the last 4-5 weeks about 3 times a day(not always for brushing but just keeping them together so I can double check them before we leave or after some other chores). It has been exceedingly helpful for my sanity and staying on top of the kids' chores and teeth brushing! Bug turns one in a couple of weeks!! I am terribly sad to see him exiting his first year. He still isn't walking and is pretty little for his age. I think he will put on weight soon the way Hulk did. Hulk is doing well with potty training. We are doing a lot of playing outside and doing learning out there as much as possible! The Boy ate a popsicle and did his math out there just today. We are slowly getting ready for a big trip for Thanksgiving where we are hoping to see all family and some friends too. It's a big undertaking what with finding someone to take care of our three pets, storing up car snacks and drinks as I find them on sale for super cheap, and trying to give the kids an immune system boost (because they always get sick when we travel!). At the moment thing are pretty calm and normal though. God has dealt bountifully with us.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
LindseyI'm the mama and wife. Updating you on our life! Archives
January 2022
Categories
All
|