I read a blog post about why it's ok to yell at your kids. The author describes how there are two types of families: "sweet" and "spicy".
She asserts that the sweet families generally don't yell, but can sometimes seem to be a little on the emotionally distant or reserved side, whereas the spicy families yell proportionately more, but despite that can be more emotionally connected because they are
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After tripping over clothes and toys for the "umpteenth" time in my daughters' bedroom, I said one morning, "Ok Girls, I want you to get everything off your floor, beds, and dresser that doesn't belong there and put it in the Pack'n'Play in my room."
I didn't tell them why... why spoil the fun!? "Ok, Girls. Now you're in debt." I explained to them that when you owe something, you're in debt. They racked up a huge pile of debt in a matter of minutes because they failed to keep their room tidy. To get items out of debt, they have to do jobs. They can also earn their things back by showing initiative, being kind, being joyfully obedient, and just doing their normal daily tasks (they have a LOT of debt... I have to have lots of ways to earn their things back). I explained that at any point, the debt-holder can choose to auction the items (Garage Sale coming soon!) so they'd better work hard to get their more valuable things out first. I explained that when you're in debt, you have to work much harder to get out of debt than you would have had to if you had never got into debt in the first place. That is called interest. Also, you cannot earn income (we reward our kids in pennies for jobs or good attitudes) until you are completely out of debt. What is interesting is that the first few days they were sure to get very specific items out of debt. After that, their interest waned to the point that when I told my 5yo she could get something out of debt, she said, "No thank you." Clothes, toys, books, all of it they have not missed one bit... except for socks & undies... they're running low on those. This tells me what I already knew: they have WAY too much stuff! So now I'm planning on holding an auction (aka Garage Sale), the earnings from which will go in part to tithe, and the rest back into "Mommy's Money", which I use to pay the kids for their jobs. I hope to see them get out of debt entirely because my room is a disaster with that overly full pack'n'play in there! Plus, it would be nice for them to feel what it's like to shout, "WE'RE DEBT FREE!" One evening, my best-friend was over and trying to get her kids ready to head out. She suggested they help my kids put the livingroom back together. Somehow, we invited a famous dead composer to serenade us with the William Tell Overture. In just 2 minutes and a whirlwind of flying books, toys, and blankets, screaming kids, giggles, shouting, running, running into each other, falling, rolling, throwing, catching... and missing... suddenly it happened! The livingroom was spotless! We couldn't believe it! I decided that from then on we needed to make the William Tell Overture a regular part of our cleaning routine. A few days later, I caught them in the boys' bedroom, Overture in one hand, camera in the other! My little sister, who also is striving toward keeping her home orderly, and is also always searching for methods to help her madness, sent me what I consider a BRILLIANT and super easy daily To Do List for keeping things in order in the home. Basically, if you do NOTHING else, do your To Do List! Here it is! I have edited it to fit our needs, but I will include several ideas. A good starting point is to spend just 15 minutes on each task, or as applicable.
T. Tidy up high-traffic areas &/OR most in-need room in the house/yard O. Open your Bible; spend time with the Lord D. Do the dishes. O. Organize something... anything! &/OR Outside L. Laundry, at least 1 load, start to finish I. Involve the kids &/OR In your room S. Sweep/mop/vacuum any area/room T. Take out the trash. Basically, the order does not matter, nor does the amount of time spent in any area. Just working as little as 15 minutes in each area every day has made HUGE improvements in our home! |
Order in the Home!
Follow along as we ATTEMPT to create order in our home with scheduling, projects, meal planning, and more! ...just kids and in debt already?
...speed-cleaning with William Tell. ...a smarter T.O. D.O. L.I.S.T. Archives
January 2018
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