I read about using chore sticks a while ago as a means to distribute chores to children and tried it out today. You take some craft sticks and write the chores that you want done for the day or week and the kids draw their chores from the bunch. So I wrote down 6 chores today, put away silverware, put away kid plates, wash windows, dust, set table and empty trash cans (the little ones in the bathrooms and bedrooms). Now, I don't expect the kids to really wash the windows or dust without some significant help and guidance, but it's a start. They already help me with these tasks, but I thought I needed to make their helping a little more organized rather than me just asking them to help when I feel like it.
So I wrote on the sticks and the boys got to each pick three. They were quite excited about picking their sticks and even excited about their chores. Sam was especially happy to get washing the windows and Matthew was disappointed with dusting, but liked emptying the garbage cans. At one point I tried to grab one of the garbage bags Matthew had collected and was scolded because "That's my job!" he yelled. Abby fussed because she didn't get any sticks, but I gave her some blank ones which she colored. Sam and Matthew also wanted some blank sticks which they colored and Sam organized his into various shapes such as a parrot.
All in all, it was a successful first day of using chore sticks. The kids were excited and completed their chores mostly without complaint. It was a good start and hopefully their excitement about chores will continue for a long time (although I'm not holding my breath).
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Matthew after dark
While Sam is asleep within in minutes of hitting the pillow (usually with the book he was looking at covering his face), Matthew takes a bit of time to get to sleep. He generally doesn't take an official nap anymore, but he often does fall asleep for a few minutes watching cartoons before dinner. This leaves his with a burst of extra energy at bedtime which he uses up in imaginative ways.
For example, last night Jason and I went to bed around 10. We had heard Matthew moving around from bedtime (around 7:30) until 8:30 or so and didn't think too much of it because we always hear Matthew moving around after bedtime. We usually don't interfere as long as he's not loud and bothering the other kids. Anyway, when we got up to our room Jason saw a pile of clothes hangers on the floor in the middle of our closet. It was quite funny, until I saw where the hangers came from. A good pile of my clothes were lying on the floor underneath one of the hanging racks in the closet. Hmmm. Matthew. He had to help put the clothes back on the hangers in the morning.
This is just one of his many after dark antics. In the past he has emptied his clothes drawers. And no, he doesn't just pile his clothes up on the floor, he lays them all out completely flat, so they cover his entire floor. Then he walks around from item to item.
Another favorite of his is to lay his books out on his floor. And no, he doesn't just lay them haphazardly, they are organized in "roads" and at the end of each road is a group of books which he claims are his "houses". His cars and trains are covering the roads. It's really quite a lot of fun for Jason and I to see what he has come up with each evening before we go to bed.
A few nights ago, he made a fort in his room. He took some blankets and draped them over the chair in his room and when we went to bed that night, we saw that he was sleeping on the floor in his fort. Another time he had moved his pillow and blanket on the floor right next to his bed and fell asleep there.
Of course he still performs the "Mommy? I have to tell you something" trick on a regular basis (like 3 times an evening) and he also is coming up with some more imaginative tricks to get our attention. Last night it was "Mommy, my knee hurts". He had come downstairs to tell me about his knee and as he was telling me, he started shaking his knee. He has pulled the "sore knee" trick before so I knew it likely wasn't serious. I told him that sleeping and resting would probably make it better, but he insisted that it wouldn't. So I then asked him what would make it better and he said, "A cough drop." Ok. I got him a cough drop hoping that it would appease him and he would stay in bed. But a few minutes later, he came down and said that the cough drop didn't help him. Fortunately, Jason came in from working on the garage at that time and took Matthew upstairs and "looked" at his knee, which apparently fixed it better than a cough drop.
Matthew usually falls asleep around 9 or so (when he doesn't nap at all during the day it's closer to 8), but you never know what you'll get between bedtime and sleeping. The kid is full of surprises.
For example, last night Jason and I went to bed around 10. We had heard Matthew moving around from bedtime (around 7:30) until 8:30 or so and didn't think too much of it because we always hear Matthew moving around after bedtime. We usually don't interfere as long as he's not loud and bothering the other kids. Anyway, when we got up to our room Jason saw a pile of clothes hangers on the floor in the middle of our closet. It was quite funny, until I saw where the hangers came from. A good pile of my clothes were lying on the floor underneath one of the hanging racks in the closet. Hmmm. Matthew. He had to help put the clothes back on the hangers in the morning.
This is just one of his many after dark antics. In the past he has emptied his clothes drawers. And no, he doesn't just pile his clothes up on the floor, he lays them all out completely flat, so they cover his entire floor. Then he walks around from item to item.
Another favorite of his is to lay his books out on his floor. And no, he doesn't just lay them haphazardly, they are organized in "roads" and at the end of each road is a group of books which he claims are his "houses". His cars and trains are covering the roads. It's really quite a lot of fun for Jason and I to see what he has come up with each evening before we go to bed.
A few nights ago, he made a fort in his room. He took some blankets and draped them over the chair in his room and when we went to bed that night, we saw that he was sleeping on the floor in his fort. Another time he had moved his pillow and blanket on the floor right next to his bed and fell asleep there.
Of course he still performs the "Mommy? I have to tell you something" trick on a regular basis (like 3 times an evening) and he also is coming up with some more imaginative tricks to get our attention. Last night it was "Mommy, my knee hurts". He had come downstairs to tell me about his knee and as he was telling me, he started shaking his knee. He has pulled the "sore knee" trick before so I knew it likely wasn't serious. I told him that sleeping and resting would probably make it better, but he insisted that it wouldn't. So I then asked him what would make it better and he said, "A cough drop." Ok. I got him a cough drop hoping that it would appease him and he would stay in bed. But a few minutes later, he came down and said that the cough drop didn't help him. Fortunately, Jason came in from working on the garage at that time and took Matthew upstairs and "looked" at his knee, which apparently fixed it better than a cough drop.
Matthew usually falls asleep around 9 or so (when he doesn't nap at all during the day it's closer to 8), but you never know what you'll get between bedtime and sleeping. The kid is full of surprises.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
A typical weekend
Our Sunday afternoon was quite fun too. Jason worked on the garage while the boys and I went swimming in our little pool. I got a bit tired of their lackluster playing in the water (they were sitting on a chair in the water) and decided to show them what playing the pool is really about. So I got on my swimsuit and showed them how to do a running headfirst sliding entry into the pool. The excitement of having Mommy swim with them or my inspiring moves really brought out a new level of fun in our swimming and the boys made up all sorts of interesting water entry moves. Sam's favorite was the feet first butt flop, while Matthew preferred a circle entry in which he ran around in circles before gently entering the water headfirst (all without getting his hair wet). We had loads of fun, but Abby was napping so she didn't get to join in.
After Jason finished up the garage, he set up the sprinkler so we could continue some water fun. The boys (including Jason) really had a blast with the sprinkler and ended up getting soaked which is not usual for them as they generally hate getting their faces wet. However, they took it like little boys should and just had a lot of fun. Abby did not have much fun with the sprinkler. She was walking toward Jason who was near the sprinkler when she walked right into the cold sprinkling water and was quite surprised and shocked. She ran over to me, crying, terrified of the sprinkler and then shrieked whenever it came near her. She and I spent time on the deck watching the boys enjoy the sprinkler. After Jason turned down the sprinkler so the water was only spraying maybe 3 feet high, I was able to convince Abby to let me run through it while I held her and while she was apprehensive, she didn't cry and may even try it out herself next time. It was a beautiful summer weekend and we really enjoyed our time as a family.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Playgrounds, swimming and general summer fun
I took a few pictures yesterday when the kids were swimming and saw some pictures that I hadn't looked at from a playground that we went to a couple of weeks ago. Oh, we have a lot of summer fun these days and here's a look.
Sam was quite proud of his new swim trunks (though they are a bit big) as they have all sorts of cool sea creatures on them like sharks (and he loves sharks these days!).
I got the kids some goggles a few weeks ago at Target and they came in a pack of three, so Abby got some too. None of the kids actually wear them for the intended purpose (seeing underwater), but they do like to wear them around. Abby wore her's for about 10 minutes yesterday as she went down the slide into the pool. The boys got a kick out of her look with the goggles.
Someday I dream of having family pictures taken, or maybe pictures of the three kids together. I was hoping that dream would come true sometime this summer, so I decided to see if I could get the three together for a decent shot. These are the best of the bunch and none are probably worth putting on a Christmas card, but they are fun for our own memories.
Sam is quite a climber (actually, all the kids are) and he really has a lot of fun on the rock climbing part of the playground. It's even more fun for him as it has a dinosaur skeleton imprint on the backside of it (and he also loves dinosaurs these days).
Sam was quite proud of his new swim trunks (though they are a bit big) as they have all sorts of cool sea creatures on them like sharks (and he loves sharks these days!).
And here are our playground pics. The kids enjoyed the "teeter totter." They have no idea what they are missing with these new teeter totters that barely move up and down, but they have fun nonetheless.
Sam is quite a climber (actually, all the kids are) and he really has a lot of fun on the rock climbing part of the playground. It's even more fun for him as it has a dinosaur skeleton imprint on the backside of it (and he also loves dinosaurs these days).
Saturday, July 6, 2013
A summer Saturday
Jason has been working like crazy on the back garage and it is looking pretty good. I'll have to post pictures soon. The siding is almost done, so other than the inside, it will be looking like a finishing product soon.
Anyway, after a brief trip to the playground this morning (brief because it was too hot, too humid, and too sunny), we came home and decided to do some crafting. I offered to get out the paints and the kids were eager to paint, so I covered the table somewhat and they dove right in. Abby has been content with water colors (see the picture of all 3 and Abby has a bowl of water in front of her) but today she noticed that the boys had a different kind of paint. She indicated that she wanted to try that paint and I covered her with an apron and gave her some of the tempera paint just like the boys had.
The boys carefully painted their pages. Matthew painted a picture of Mickey Mouse and he likes to paint the entire picture, not painting in the lines or anything, but rather painting a patchwork of colors all over. So he ends up with a page covered with squares of different colors. Sam likes to paint on plain paper and he makes all sorts of abstract designs. He will paint a curvy road across a page, then paint some circles or other odd shapes, then he usually get to a point where he just fills in his curves with a mishmash of color. They both have their own unique techniques.
Abby took her paintbrushes and smeared around the paint on the paper plate which I put the blobs on paint on. She quickly made work of her smearing and then wanted more paint to smear around. She got her hands, arms, legs and the exposed parts of her clothes pretty well decorated as well and seemed to enjoy her first experience with real paint. I haven't tried finger painting with her as the boys never liked it so I just never pursued it with her but I think I may need to try it now.
The boys have been having a lot of fun helping Jason with the garage so after painting and lunch, they helped out some. Yesterday they carried a few of the 16' siding boards from the main garage to the back garage and Sam even dragged some all by himself which he was quite proud of. Jason likes to give them little jobs to do like they use a dustpan and broom to "clean up" the inside of the garage. Both boys like to play with the scraps of the siding and build things with it. Matthew was playing with a few pieces and said they were an airplane, another time they were a drum. Sam built a house and a tower with some of his scraps.
After all their playing and helping today, Matthew was quite tired. I told him he could lay down in his room or on the couch, but he didn't want to pursue either option. However, his tiredness got the best of him, so he laid down on the rug by the sliding door and a few minutes later was asleep. And there he remained for an hour and a half. Despite some loud playing and brightness, Matthew had no problem sleeping through it all. He was one tuckered out little boy.
Anyway, after a brief trip to the playground this morning (brief because it was too hot, too humid, and too sunny), we came home and decided to do some crafting. I offered to get out the paints and the kids were eager to paint, so I covered the table somewhat and they dove right in. Abby has been content with water colors (see the picture of all 3 and Abby has a bowl of water in front of her) but today she noticed that the boys had a different kind of paint. She indicated that she wanted to try that paint and I covered her with an apron and gave her some of the tempera paint just like the boys had.
The boys carefully painted their pages. Matthew painted a picture of Mickey Mouse and he likes to paint the entire picture, not painting in the lines or anything, but rather painting a patchwork of colors all over. So he ends up with a page covered with squares of different colors. Sam likes to paint on plain paper and he makes all sorts of abstract designs. He will paint a curvy road across a page, then paint some circles or other odd shapes, then he usually get to a point where he just fills in his curves with a mishmash of color. They both have their own unique techniques.
Abby took her paintbrushes and smeared around the paint on the paper plate which I put the blobs on paint on. She quickly made work of her smearing and then wanted more paint to smear around. She got her hands, arms, legs and the exposed parts of her clothes pretty well decorated as well and seemed to enjoy her first experience with real paint. I haven't tried finger painting with her as the boys never liked it so I just never pursued it with her but I think I may need to try it now.
The boys have been having a lot of fun helping Jason with the garage so after painting and lunch, they helped out some. Yesterday they carried a few of the 16' siding boards from the main garage to the back garage and Sam even dragged some all by himself which he was quite proud of. Jason likes to give them little jobs to do like they use a dustpan and broom to "clean up" the inside of the garage. Both boys like to play with the scraps of the siding and build things with it. Matthew was playing with a few pieces and said they were an airplane, another time they were a drum. Sam built a house and a tower with some of his scraps.
After all their playing and helping today, Matthew was quite tired. I told him he could lay down in his room or on the couch, but he didn't want to pursue either option. However, his tiredness got the best of him, so he laid down on the rug by the sliding door and a few minutes later was asleep. And there he remained for an hour and a half. Despite some loud playing and brightness, Matthew had no problem sleeping through it all. He was one tuckered out little boy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)