Summer Routines ?
Have any of you had some cool successes with your routines?
Have any of you incorporated the email reminders into your routines, or followed Kelly's missions in the "Zones"?
Have any of you mastered your routines and finally made it to the Detailed Cleaning List?
I was doing good earlier in the year, but fell off several months ago when I became ill, and just never got back into it. And boy how we've suffered!
Well, summer is here, so it's time for my son and I to start some new routines.
I can't give my son too much or he becomes whiny, and I become a nag, and that is NO fun.
Flylady is incorporating 4 new habbits of her own this month - Go FlyLady! I'm not that ambitious, so I'm incorporating two, possibly 3 in my summer routines.
Do any of you have any suggestions for those of us who are struggling? Or have anything else you want to share? Maybe just commiserate, LOL!
We're still trying to figure out this "blog thing", so please bear with us, it's a "work in progress". Feel free to make some suggestions.
And feel free to join in, if just to say "Hi"!
As FlyLady says: You're not behind, don't try to catch up! Just jump in where you are!
Have any of you incorporated the email reminders into your routines, or followed Kelly's missions in the "Zones"?
Have any of you mastered your routines and finally made it to the Detailed Cleaning List?
I was doing good earlier in the year, but fell off several months ago when I became ill, and just never got back into it. And boy how we've suffered!
Well, summer is here, so it's time for my son and I to start some new routines.
I can't give my son too much or he becomes whiny, and I become a nag, and that is NO fun.
Flylady is incorporating 4 new habbits of her own this month - Go FlyLady! I'm not that ambitious, so I'm incorporating two, possibly 3 in my summer routines.
Do any of you have any suggestions for those of us who are struggling? Or have anything else you want to share? Maybe just commiserate, LOL!
We're still trying to figure out this "blog thing", so please bear with us, it's a "work in progress". Feel free to make some suggestions.
And feel free to join in, if just to say "Hi"!
As FlyLady says: You're not behind, don't try to catch up! Just jump in where you are!
posted by Fly Wendy @ 8:38 PM
5 Comments:
At 12:16 PM,
FlyLinda said…
Today, I introduced my children to something new. Their "Chore Chart". My 12 yr old reacted with, "Hmpf..tsk...this is stupid." My 7 yr old reacted with a somewhat enthusiastic, "Oh, ok."
This has been something I've been knocking around in my head for about 6 months now. Part of my problem, is overthinking. Worrying about making it perfect, rather than implementing, then adjusting as necessary as we go along. I want to stop nagging & be able to concentrate on what I need to be doing, & I want them to form the good habits now that I'm still struggling with.
There is a column vertically for every day of the week for three weeks. Horizontally, there is are many columns for the chores. Chores that aren't done on a daily basis can be "blacked out" for the days they aren't done. A check mark, dot, or sticker can be placed in the square when the chore is done.
I'm hoping this will make it easier not only for me to make sure their responsibility is completed, but also for them. To be able to mark something as done feels good, & I don't have to nag, nobody likes being nagged at! Flylady says it takes 30 days to make an action a habit. Hopefully, by the time we're done with this first chart, we'll be close to having some great new habits. I'm also hoping to get some of these basics instilled over the summer months before the pressure of school & homework starts up again.
I would love to hear from other flybabies out there who have used this kind of a system with their kids. Share what worked for you & just as important, what didn't. I'd also like to hear from anyone starting their own chart. What's yours like? And as the month goes on, do you see any improvement? Anything getting easier? Anything becoming more of a battle?
I'm also creating a chart for myself, scheduling specific time for decluttering & other chores I have difficulty doing routinely. I'd love to hear from you too about what you're trying!
At 7:38 AM,
FlyLinda said…
Well, I just wanted to let y'all know how we're doing with our charts. Both kids have surprised me. I had thought I would have the toughest time with my 12 yr old based on the reactions of the two when I originally introduced them to the charts. My 12 yr old has really stepped up to the plate & taken to the chart beautifully! I am not nagging anymore & we are clashing less. My 7 yr old is grumbling & I'm having to nudge him a bit to look at the chart & do his "routines" which I hadn't expected. I still have to give gentle reminders to both kids to check their charts morning & evening but I feel like so far this has been a huge success! It's only been a week & I look forward to (I hope!) continued improvement.
At 8:36 AM,
Fly Wendy said…
Linda that's great! I have a question - are the kids receiving any reward or allowance based on their efforts?
At 7:50 AM,
FlyLinda said…
No. I feel that as part of the family, they should participate in family chores. Most of the things on their charts right now are self care type of things. Making their bed, picking up their clothes, putting away toys, etc. Although they do each also have family chores, dusting vacuuming, caring for pets. As they get older, their responsibility increases. They share a job taking care of our recycling & selling it for cash to earn spending money. They also have the opportunity to do extra chores for cash if they want to earn more.
At 9:28 PM,
Fly Wendy said…
Excellent, I agree.
I love the recycling idea, unfortunately we can't really do that because we just don't have the room.
What ends up happening is I save up the plastic bottles and there is an old asian woman I see gathering bottles and cans in the streets, so I give them to her and she is always very happy although I don't understand a word she says :)
I like your idea better than what I've been doing which is just an evening routine that we check off.
I feel perfectionism sneaking in at me again, but the summer schedule changes haven't prompted me much - my son has summer school - the only difference is in his school hours.
I need to take advantage of that but other things have popped up - weddings, funerals, etc. And my son has a new friend I approve of so I'm letting him have some summer leeway.
I also just adopted a soldier and have committed to a letter each week and have been shopping for "men's things", LOL which I haven't done for years.
Thanks Linda for your posts on this, inspiring me to get our routines back in order.
Also, I appreciate that there are some "chores" that are just part of being a family and aren't "paid for" - I've always believed that.
Please do keep us posted on the progress of your babies and the chore charts. I have one more wedding and then I'm updating our routines to accomodate schedule changes, and, since the boy is about to be a "teenager" GASP! I really need to reinforce these things.
Anyone else out there with thoughts on these things? Please don't lurk, especially if you're struggling - I need all the company I can get :)
Love to all the flybabies out there :)
Thanks Linda :)
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