I know, that I wrote 'next up was our Summer Bucket List', but I decided to post the Summer Job Charts first, since "work comes before play"! That is a little idea that I am trying to teach my boys. Somedays, I feel like it is a constant phrase coming out of my mouth.
It helped a lot once I got our Summer job system up and going on our 'Family Command Center'. Ever since life has been much happier, with a much cleaner house (yeah!) and a less frazzled and nagging Momma. When the expectations are clear my boys do so much better. I figured out what I needed done everyday and divided it up between the boys. The three oldest rotate between certain jobs--with the description outlined below. My two little boys have age appropriate jobs each day too.
For the older boys, I typed a detailed description of what the listed jobs meant. I fogot Dishes--but have told them when they see that on their chart--they are the 'Dish Duty Dude': meaning unloading and reloading dishes throughout the day. I am hoping that they will learn to put their dishes in the sink and maybe brotherly peer pressure will help.
The jobs are now clearly outlined for the summer and I don't have to change the routine until school starts. It is really important to me that my boys learn to work, so they know that there will also be big projects we work on together once a week or so. Such as, last week we dug out a HUGE thorny giant of a bush that was taking over our front planter box. It took us hours but I could tell the boys were proud of their work:)
I found a great weekly calendar from Erin Condren online. I love the bright and fun colors and personalized design. I also ordered the Life planner, which I LOVE too!
I recently purchased this and used it to laminate the charts. Now I can add notes with a dry erase marker if I want.
So far so good. We are working hard and playing hard too! We have already crossed off a couple of things on our bucket list. Now that jobs are out of the way--the fun is coming...Summer Bucket List really is up next!
Yeah for summer!!
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11 comments:
You are an AMAZING mom, raising wholesome kids!! Thanks for being an example and sharing with complete strangers. I aspire to be like you!!
Melanie -
I read about your job charts the last time your wrote about them and decided to implement them in our family.
It has totally paid off. My kids have done so much better knowing exactly what I expect from them.
Thanks for paving the way!
Melanie, I love reading your blog. You are amazing!!! And have such an amazing family! We miss you guys!!! I hope you don't mind if I copy your family command center. It is such a great idea. Hope you guys are having a great summer. Let us know if you make it back to Utah!
You are SO ORGANIZED!! I love it!! What an inspiration you are to me.
Thank you so much for posting this! I've been trying to get something like this organized, but needed help!! Thank you. People can also find a Purple Cow laminator at Costco for 18.99. It comes with lots of laminator envelopes too:)
Rebecca,
Thanks so much for the info on the Purple Cow Laminator--that sounds like a great deal!!
Great ideas! Thank you.
Wow! This is serious stuff :) Love it. I am going to try to do this in my home too. Thank you for sharing your ideas.
Wow Mel that looks amazing! I can't wait to pick your brain as my children get older. You have figured out so many wonderful ways to teach your boys to work for the family. LOVE the colorful job charts and family calendar!!
Funny that I should read this today, Melanie! My kids have JUST finished creating their summer chore 'system' - learning as much about brainstorming and teamwork as they did about chores!
I let them do all the work - from the concept to the execution - figuring if they design the system, they will have more invested in the success (we'll see how long that lasts!)
They went with a simple index card system in which there corkboard with envelopes to represent an 'in box' and an 'out box' for each child...Each chore is on its own index card which I place in the in-box once a week and the kids move them to the out-box when completed.
Wish us luck!
Thanks for your inspiration and the great resources:-)
Love this idea... anxious to see what you do for the school year. :) I too have a Tanner and a Bridger!!
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