back when there were only four of them i read a book by holly pierlot called "a mother's rule of life". it's nice, if you are the "every minute of your day" planned type of person. i, however, am not. i realize that the kids need some structure- but too much structure is just constricting. i did take an idea from the book and still implement it to this day.
the ten minute tidy. i'd throw ten minutes up on the microwave timer(one of two uses that our microwave serves- the other being the special cabinet above the stove that holds the cast irons).
the kids would clean like mad for ten minutes, each of them having a predetermined area. the beep that let's the kids know that ten minutes is up is often met with groans. "five more minutes mom!"
then i invariably must recite the litany of what's left.
"well, it does look nice, but you forgot the doll shoe, that submarine, the belt, that yellow lego under the chair, the baseball hat by the treadmill."
i sometimes feel like it should be intoned like a chant. i think it would both be more gentle on the kids ears and my throat.
3 comments:
LOL I almost bought that book a couple of weeks ago; instead I opted for the Managers of Their Homes by the Maxwell family. They're a little hardcore for me, but we had some major upheaval a few weeks ago, and I thought, "I have got to get my life in order better than this." Ugh. The organizational gene skipped over me...
Yes! I must send you a song that is fun to sing and act to while clean up time!
enid- that gene and i are like water and oil. i try. with the Lord's help i DO try. do i succeed? hmm. i guess you'd have to define the word success.
cj- we have a song on our itunes from "enchanted" about cleaning. it's funny and lighthearted and helps us not to get too serious about it.
Post a Comment