* Sigh. It must be the weather. Or my mostly dull week. Or... ? But the best word that describe me right now is blasé. Being a 'housewife' can be really dull.
* Gearing up for a big turkey day next week! We expect 33 here around our table(s). That in itself should keep me from being blasé, right?
* My creative first daughter had leftover mashed potatoes for breakfast. She usually has come down to the counter in the morning dreading what was ahead for breakfast. Now I just give her leftovers and she's eating way more in the morning that she ever has. But it goes against every tried-and-true, dyed-in-the-wool feeling I have of what breakfast 'should' be.
* I've been doing an experiment this week. No computer for the kids unless it has to do with homework or games from their school's website. And guess what? They are happier! Less moody! Playing games! I struggle with knowing how much they should really 'play' on the computer. Usually they are a pile of cranks when their time is up. This experiment has been very telling to me.
* There are different ways to show a love and care for someone. Mine was represented in a big batch of homemade granola yesterday. I concocted several recipes together and... well... yum! It is way cheaper (and tastier!) to make it yourself than to buy.
* How do you other mom's (or brilliant minds that have a suggestion) handle allowances and chores around the house. The kids have basic responsibilities around the house (ie., put clean clothes away, take out garbage, help in kitchen), but I've not done a real 'chore chart' in a long time. Nor been great about giving allowance for jobs. What works??? Sometimes I feel so very new at this parenting thing... and I think the older the kids get, the less I know!
* Hoping the blasé leaves me and soon!
Certainly not a brilliant mind commenting here. Not even sure it could be classed as tried and true. We weren't very good a giving allowances. We'd start and then never carry on. Our kids always knew that if they needed pocket money - Mom and Dad would give it to them. We never paid our kids for doing chores. No one paid the Mom or Dad for the work they did at home and so, why should the kids be paid? That was our theory. Whatever it took to keep the home running as smoothly as possible well, you were expected to do it. If you wanted to live out of your laundry basket all week - so be it. They all managed to grow up to be well adjusted adults. Married wonderful spouses and are now producing darling grandchildren. It all came pretty cheap when I think about it. Love and consistency beats money every time. Have a wonderful turkey day. Our's seems sooooo long ago now.
ReplyDeleteDebbie
chore chart chore chart..hand waving in the air..i'm implementing it this week ( after years and years and years of people..such as our friend shan telling me to do it)
ReplyDeleteit's going pretty well! i will vote for it!!
they get stars and even though they're 10,9,8,5 they love the stars..tell ya later...gotta run.
P.S. Are you going to share your granola recipe with us?
ReplyDeleteDebbie
Beyond the basics (putting laundry away, helping in the kitchen-like you said), I don't have them do too much extra during the school year, so no allowance. During the summer though, they each have their own chores (vacuum the house, dust the house, etc), and we pay them an hourly rate (whatever works for you). I keep track of what I owe them, and then they can use the money how they want. Works for us, but definitely not brilliant :)
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, please do share that granola recipe.
Have to laugh. growing up I ate leftovers for breakfast too. I disliked traditional breakfast food, so mom figured if that's the only way I would eat something, then fine!
ReplyDeleteI've struggled with the whole allowance thing over the years too. My kids have always done chores, but not for allowance.
The best info on kids/allowance & chores (behavior) that I've ever came across or really made sense to me is in Dr. Kevin Leymans book, "Have a new kid by Friday"
As far as breakfast, in our household we eat lots of leftovers. It's food, and many times has much less sugar, and more nutrition than "normal" breakfast meals.
ReplyDeleteAllowances: Kiah's allowance is not tied to any chores. It's more like a lesson in managing money. She does have chores she does, and if she doesn't do the chores, I do them, and she pays me! She likes having money, so usually I don't have to do her work. It's a tough call, though, I know!
I know that feeling of being blase sometimes. Ugh!
ReplyDeleteAbout the whole allowance thing. My sis and I weren't given any, neither was John. I see it as we are a family...it takes all of us to function as so. We all have our jobs that we need to do to keep the house running smoothly. There reward(I hope)....is that they will have a good work ethic when they are out in the real world. That said...when they need $ for things we are there. The 2 oldest also have babysitting and other jobs they do now...so they also get a portion of that money for themselves...and the rest goes to savings.
so..little continuation of the chore chart plan is that at the end of the week if they have all their chores filled in ( they can miss 2 and no more spaces inthe chart) they get a "pick" from the treat basket which includes stuff i know they'll like from the dollar bins at Target, envelopes of small change..a dollar or two, or they can pick an envelope with a special priviledge. they were pretty excited about it this past week. now with Thankgiving breaking up the week next week we'll just break it down into a half week deal. hey, if it saves my yelling..i'll try it!
ReplyDeleteBrett has little jobs around the house but I don't pay him for it. If he helps with with day care stuff (put away nap mats, etc) though, I do pay him $5/wk or buy him something equivelent. I can write it off & it's helping me. I love the idea of stars for the jobs completed & then choosing an envelope or from the treat basket. There has to be incentive to make it fun. Maybe make a list of extra jobs to choose from with an amount attached if they want to earn money?
ReplyDelete