Chore Buckets

It's hard to clean up after 6 people.  It's a full time job.  So, in an effort to teach my children to lift their load, and lighten my load, I made chore buckets.  I am NOT a fan of chore charts.  The novelty wears off so fast and it just hangs on the wall or fridge and doesn't seem to work for us.

These chore sticks have been working well and I thought I'd share the idea with others.  

I bought some jumbo popsicle sticks at Michaels.  

 I cut out paper on the cricket to cover the sticks.  This step is just for fun.  You don't have to do this.  Also, if you don't have a cricut, you could paint the sticks. 

 I glued on all the papers.  I used modge podge so I could get a shiny finish.

 I used two colors on each stick.  One plain and one designed. 

Then you just write the chores on the sticks.  I color coded them a little, but some chores are interchangeable between kids. 

 Each child gets a bucket.  I reset the chores each night and they wake up to see what their chores will be that day.  The bulk of the chores are the same each day and I add in some others.  We're a few weeks in and I really don't have to help much.  I made a ton of sticks so the chores can change with time.  Now the chores are simple; pick up toys, dust the piano, clean your room, etc.  Later, when they get better at it I can add in things that will help my work load; vacuum, dishes, laundry, etc.  I find that I don't have to remind the kids all day long to do certain things like clean their room or put away their shoes, because it's in the bucket.  I also added in things that aren't really chores like prayers, teeth, pjs, etc.  This has helped so I don't have to constantly help them with every little thing.  Even my 2-year-old knows his "regular" chores and gets them done so well.  And, I can't even tell you how much this has helped with Bradley and piano practicing!

Their favorite chore is 10-minute clean up.  We set the timer after dinner and while I clean up the kitchen, Anthony and the kids set the timer, crank up the tunes and clean as fast as they can for 10 minutes.  It has helped so much!  Rarely do I have to put away toys or games.  It's awesome.

You can set your reward system any way you choose.  Each night we go through the buckets as a part of our nighttime routine.  If all sticks are flipped to the colored side facing up they get a small allowance.   This, in and of itself, has been awesome.   They're learning about earning money, spending, saving, tithing.  It's been great!  

Happy Chores!

Going, Going, Gone

Going.  Jamison's hair was getting too long.

 Going.  So, I cut a few inches.

 Gone.  Then a few more.  I love it.  She loves it.  She is so beautiful.  

Bradley and the Bus

Bradley asked me if he could ride the bus in Kindergarten.  I said no.  I was too nervous.  Plus, the highlight of my day was picking my son up outside of class every day. 

He asked me if he could ride the bus in 1st grade.  I said no.  The hardest part of my day was dragging all the kids over to pick him up at the end of school each day.  But, honestly I didn't know how to sign up for the bus at the beginning of the year and by they time I thought maybe we could do it, I figured it was too late to add him in to the route.  It probably wasn't, but I just kept picking him up everyday as usual.  I'd leave for school 30 minutes before it got out in order to get a parking spot and it'd take a good 20 more to get home.

This year Bradley stared 2nd grade.  And, he asked me in the summer if he could ride the bus.  I said maybe.  I figured out how to sign him up preliminarily.  We didn't talk about it from that point on. 

This year, I went to pick him up the first day of school and I saw him come out of school.  He saw me.  But, the silly boy wouldn't come over to me or make eye contact.  He told his teacher he was going on the bus.  Oh boy.  He had a little bus tag on his backpack and was gung-ho about getting on that bus.  I reached for his little hand and told him he wasn't riding the bus.  I was here to get him.  

When we got home he told me that he had gone to the office and told the office staff that he needed to ride the bus.  They looked up his address and sure enough, he was listed as a bus rider. The little preliminary sign-up I did in the summer was enough I guess.

That's my boy.  He just takes matters into his own hands.  So, every day (give or take) since the second day of school he's ridden the bus.  It's been WONDERFUL for me and for him.  It saves me an hour in the afternoon and a half hour in the morning.  The other kids love to walk to the bus stop.  Bradley tells me every stop, every road the bus takes and where each student gets off.  He is such a character!

Back to School

We spent a lot of hot summer days relaxing in Joe's pool this summer and the kids loved every minute of it.  We were sad to say goodbye to the pool at the end of the summer but not sad to say goodbye to the hottest August Las Vegas has ever recorded!  Here are a few shots of our last swim.

We had a good summer.  We celebrated the new school year with some delicious ABC cupcakes.  Bradley and Jamison enjoyed helping me make them.  Bradley particularly loved placing the items on top.  He used tweezers and was so careful.  Jamison loved telling me which letters were which.  They both loved eating the finished product.  

Here's to a great 2011-2012 school year!  This is my last year with only one child in school.  Next year, Jamison will start kindergarten and I just know she's going to love it.