Children's Chores

Laura recently posted about children and work.  I love what she had to say!  Be sure to check it out.   She also posted about her children's chores and asked for examples from others of what they do.  I was really inspired by Laura's post and found a few things that she was doing to be helpful "tweaks" to our own system.  Thanks Laura!  So, in the spirit of encouraging others, here's what we're doing currently:

MORNING CARE 

I have a sheet of pictures and words posted in the kid's bathroom.  

We've been doing this for the past 2 years very consistently and it has 

really helped our children to take care of the necessities each morning.  

All I have to ask is "Have you finished your morning care?" 

Also, it is 5 things so it is easy to "count off" on one hand!

1. Brush teeth and hair
2. Get dressed
3. Make your bed
4. Put jammies away (in the hamper if they're dirty or under pillow if they're not)
5. Pray

MORNING WORK

This is just one thing that they do, in addition to their "morning care" before breakfast.  These are things that need to be done every day of the week except for Sunday.   Over the past 2 years, all of the children have taken a turn or two doing each of these things.  We switch the work around about every 2-3 months or whenever I'm seeing that the work is being done with excellence and a happy heart.  Since we don't have a huge age range in our children (currently ages 5-9), they are all able to do each of the things.  Also, I haven't had "Little Missy" do the trash or the dog poo. . . those are just "man" jobs in our house!  LOL!  If I had toddlers I would have the toddlers do what they could (like emptying trash cans or sorting laundry with an older sibling).  During this time I am usually dragging myself out of bed, downing a cup of coffee, reading my Bible, and getting ready for the day.  I am not a morning person!  LOL!  My wonderful husband has taken on breakfast duty for the time being, but otherwise, I am making breakfast too.

Mr. Z (9) - Gather, sort, and start a load of laundry

Big Joe (8) - empty small trash cans, take out the trash, take trash cans to the curb on Fri.

Speedy Mo (7) - feed dog, pick up dog doo from back yard

Little Missy (5) - put clean dishes away from dishwasher and drying rack 

(we keep all of our dishes stored in low cupboards and drawers so that the kids can all help put away dishes and set the table.  Believe it or not, this little 5 year old is completely capable of doing this job every morning without help - but she often gets a little help from a brother, mom, or dad!)

In Proverbs it says that "the lazy man will not eat," so the morning work has to be done before breakfast or they don't eat breakfast.  This policy was adopted out of necessity when our adopted children were really struggling with obedience in the first year they were home.  We have had to apply it exactly two times in two years.  The two "lazy men" were very sad to sit through breakfast without eating but were very, very happy to finish their work and eat a big lunch later in the day!

AFTER BREAKFAST WORK

These are things that need to be done Monday -Saturday.  This is sort of just a normal part of the flow of our "homeschooling" day.  During this time I am either helping/teaching/training the children or working in the kitchen on cleanup or dinner prep and then gathering materials for reading or other learning projects for our morning.  Again, this system is fluid and changes as I consider each child's abilities, attitude, current needs in our family, etc. . . For example, Speedy Mo NEEDS to be outside and MOVING before we sit down for our Bible story time or other inside work, thus he currently gets the outside, more active jobs!

Mr. Z (9) - Rotate laundry, Spot clean downstairs bathroom, sweep mud room
Big Joe (8) - Spot clean upstairs bathrooms, vacuum 1 room upstairs (rotating)
Speedy Mo (7) - play with dog for 20 minutes (outside), sweep or shovel side and front porch
Little Missy (5) - sweep kitchen and dining room, wipe down baseboards in 1 room (rotating)

AFTERNOON WORK

So, this is still something we are working on, but the idea is that this is the time for the before dinner "tidy" as well as time for those other weekly chores that need to get done to keep the household running smoothly.  We have tried this different ways but currently we are working on coming in from free-play time to have "tea and a story" at around 4 or 4:30 after which the children start on their daily afternoon work.  This allows me time to work on dinner and also gives me a few minutes of "couch time" with Jeff when he gets home.  The kids are more than happy to finish up their work quickly so they can play with dad before dinner; it usually takes them about 30 minutes.  We don't have afternoon work scheduled on the weekends - we use those days for family time, projects, and rest!  I worked these things around our weekly activities as well.  For example, Mondays we host an evening bible study so we do afternoon work to get ready for that;  Tuesdays we are out of the house in the afternoons so we have easy afternoon work.  [this ended up looking really complicated after I posted it, but in reality, it is fairly simple and looks less daunting on my printed list]

Everyday/Everybody

• Pick up toys and clothes
• Fold and put away clothes

Mr. Z (9) - organize shoes, coats, boots (summer - towels, flip flops, etc. . . )

Big Joe (8) - trash and recycling

Speedy Mo (7) - feed dog

Little Missy (5) - set table for dinner

Monday

Mr. Z (9) - clean downstairs bathroom 

Big Joe (8) - sweep and spot mop living room and kitchen

Speedy Mo (7) - help mom

Little Missy (5) - help mom

Tuesday

Mr. Z (9) - organize media (CD's, DVD's, computer table, etc. . . )

Big Joe (8) - organize craft and/or game closet

Speedy Mo (7) - clean out the car (trash, toys, clothes)

Little Missy (5) - water plants

Wednesday

Mr. Z (9) - sweep and spot mop living room and kitchen

Big Joe (8) - deep clean upstairs bathrooms

Speedy Mo (7) - deep clean upstairs bathrooms

Little Missy (5) - help mom clean fridge or kitchen cupboards

Thursday (rotates every other week)

2 kids - wash sheets/remake beds

2 kids - organize bedrooms

Friday

Jeff is usually home in the afternoon so boys help dad w/ a project and Little Missy helps mom OR it is "hair day" (when she's not "Sah'boo").

EVENING CARE

Like "Morning Care," this is just a list posted in the bathroom that helps our children to be able to get ready for bed w/o constant verbal reminders.  It is pretty basic.

1. Go to the bathroom
2. Bath/Shower OR Wash hands and face
3. Put on jammies
4. Dirty clothes in hamper
5. Brush teeth

I must say that in the two years since our 3 adopted children came home, our system has morphed MANY times based on abilities, issues of obedience, the homes we've lived in, and just life circumstances.  We used to have "Table Chores" that the kids would do after each meal on a rotating basis (clear table, sweep, wipe table, load dishes) and it worked really well.  Now we are trying to just all work together cleaning up after each meal and my children either just jump in and do what needs to be done (the long term goal!) or I help a little by directing them each to something specific.

This post has gotten REALLY long (sorry!) so I am going to save my further thoughts about children and work for a later post!  

Great Gorpy!

My children had so much fun making "Great Gorpy" a few weeks ago.  This was an INCREDIBLY easy project for them to do together and took very little work on my part.  They loved making this for snack time.  We even had enough to share!  

It is so simple - just look through your cupboard, take out random snack foods, and put a big bowl on the table.  Then give the children a cup and instructions to add a cup of whatever they wish out of the big pile you've put on the table.  Mix well and enjoy!  

Here's what we put in our GORPY:

dried blueberries

dried cranberries

coconut

chocolate chips

Chex

Fruit Loops

almonds

raisins

This is a great rainy day activity or good if you have someone little who needs a "mommy's helper" type job.  Mr. Z and Big Joe were my "Great Gorpy Helpers."

From Hair Extensions to "Sah'-boo"

Here's what I promised a few weeks ago in my last "hair" post.  Sorry it took so long!

"Sah'-boo" is the term my Liberian kiddos use (well, now ALL of my children use it) to mean "bald head." When they first came home, our Liberian boys did NOT want to be "sah'-boo." Now, they actually prefer us to keep their hair shorter since it is super kinky and hard to keep combed out. So, every couple of months my husband gets out the hair clippers and shaves their heads "sah'boo." Mr. Z would like his "sah'boo" too, but he looks like he is a cancer patient when he's totally bald, so we have to limit him to the super-short "Marine's" look.

During our last head shaving event, Little Missy decided that she, too, would like to be "sah'boo." Well. . . although I have actually come to enjoy doing her hair (and I even learned how to do add extensions to her cornrows thanks to a Christmas gift from my sister), we decided that there's probably no better time to try it, so. . .

Announcing "Little Missy Sah'boo"

As you can tell, she really loves it.  We thought she might be sad after it was gone, but instead she said, "I love it!  and after it grows back, we can shave it again!"  

We bought some cute new headbands and we are enjoying our break from "hair days" for a while!

The Wonderful Wisdom of a 9 year old

It seems the children are just full of wise words lately and it sure has been making us laugh around here!

Some background info:  Mr. Z (9) and I have been reading about the founding fathers, The Declaration of Independence, the basic set-up of our federal and state governments,  etc. . . 

So, we are sitting at the dinner table having a family discussion about how it is ILLEGAL (in the state where we live) for anyone to sell, give, or RECEIVE raw milk unless it is from a USDA inspected and approved facility.  Practically speaking, this means that, if I go to my friend's mini-farm and bring home a gallon of raw goat's milk for my family to drink. . . both her and I are committing a crime that is punishable by 6-12 months in prison.  Are you kidding me???

O.K. - I will refrain from launching into how incredibly insane this law is (other than to say that I cannot fathom how it can be LEGAL to buy and sell cigarettes which contain known carcinogens but punishable by jail time to milk a goat!?!?!?).  Sorry, I digress.  

Back to the story at hand:

So we are talking about the legalities of receiving raw milk and about whether or not the government should really be making laws about such things when Mr. Z has a sudden "lightbulb" moment and says, with a grin:

"Hey, they can't do that because I'm pursuing my happiness by drinking raw goat's milk!" 

If only the politicians were this intelligent!  LOL!

The Wonderful Wisdom of an 8 year old

I just had to pass along this funny bit of wisdom from one of the greatest 8 year olds I know (besides my own!).    Enjoy!

Mini M 'n' M's Tube 1 by ~touch-of-insanity on deviantART
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So, this from the 8 year old today after church...

The context: Teen girls at our church are handing our small tubes of mini M&Ms. Church goers are encouraged to take the tube of M&Ms, eat the candy, and return the tube next week full of cash to help the girls go to the Girls' Youth Conference (Revolve Tour, maybe?)

So of course, all my kids wanted candy, which they were gladly given upon leaving the church.

In the car on the way home, with mouth full of chocolate, my 8 year old son 

asks...

"so mom, what's this candy thing about again?"

I try to explain what exactly a Youth Conference is. 

"Well, its a special weekend where girls go away with their friends, stay 

in a hotel, hear lots of good bands and concerts...all to worship God of

course...then they hear preachers and speakers who encourage them to really commit their lives to the Lord, and they hear the

Gospel, Bible teaching, etc."

Eight year old, still chewing ponders a moment...then responds, 

"Hmm.  . . Why don't they just go to church? It's free."

Dad thinks his son in brilliant, but he refrained from telling him so on the spot.

Cornrows and Extensions

Call me crazy, but I actually look forward to "hair day!" I have come to really enjoy "plaiting" my daughters hair and after almost two years, I have become quite proficient at it. PTL! I started out simply: just sectioning her hair into small squares, making a small pony tail with each and then twisting, zulu knotting, or braiding each small pony tail. I then branched out into some more complex patterns in sectioning and tried joining the braids together, etc. . . About a year ago, I decided to learn to cornrow. After watching a couple of YouTube demonstrations (which made NO sense at all), I just started figuring it out. The first couple of attempts were rather sorry, to say the least! However, we stuck with it and, little by little, we got it! Here is one picture of one of our "autumn hair do's" and a few pics of our "December hair-do."   We started putting in beads at the ends of the cornrows which seemed to make them last a little longer AND, they just look darn cute! Watch for a few more upcoming "hair" posts on hair care, our first hair extensions (done by mom), and a real suprise!

(the last picture also has Little Missy's newly lost tooth - hence the red blotchy smile!)

Please pray for Speedy Mo

I know I've been a little "quiet" on the blog for the past few weeks.  Speedy Mo got quite ill right around Christmas time and still has not fully recovered.  We always know when he doesn't feel good because he actually sits still for more than 10 seconds and he doesn't want to eat very much.  LOL!  But I digress, so. . .  after a full course of antibiotics, 14 days of on and off again fevers, and a 3 day virus type rash (measles?), he still has some mysterious swollen lymph nodes.  We will be taking him in for blood work and further testing early this week.  

Obviously we are praying that he will be healed and that this will turn out to be just a weakened immune system, but I also would ask for all of you to pray that (no matter what) the Lord would be glorified in Speedy Mo's life and in our lives.  We know and believe that God is both Sovereign and Good and we fully trust him but we also know that we are depraved and weak and in need of his grace to help us in our unbelief.  

I am also sensing some spiritual oppression within our family right now - just seems like something has been intensifying over the past week or so.  Please pray that the power of the Holy Spirit would be at work here in our home and in our lives and that the enemy would have NO foothold in any of our lives or in our home.  

Thank you for praying and I will let you know what we find out.