I have now come full circle.
This morning, I taught the girls that cleaning a room is not the same as throwing junk in the corner and hoping the dresses in the closet will cover it.
Cleaning the room is not the same as stuffing everything under the bed.
Cleaning the room is not the same as trying to hide everything on top of the dresser hoping they can pass it off as "creativity."
Cleaning means CLEAN.
And all the memories of my childhood have come rushing back --learning how to really clean a room, learning how to purge. The twice a year "going through stuff" to see what still fit, to see if I "really" needed to keep it --I learned this from my mother.
I hated it back then.
My girls hate it now.
My boys will hate it soon (ha!).
And I'm okay with it. Because I'm teaching these chillin's some responsibility to the things they own, as well as the true definition of Clean. They will learn, gosh darn it! Because it will be good for them in the long run.
Just as it was for me.
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Hey, hey! It's SPRING! Finally!
And that means getting ready for summer. The kids get out of school on the 29th, and so therefore, June 1st begins our fun, fun summer.
Sort of.
I mean, Brandon is in school, and we're having a baby the end of July. So...no family vacations (although we're gonna try really hard to camp at least once in June!). But that hasn't stopped me from doing the SUPER SCHEDULE OF SUMMER!
In fact, the kids and I have already drawn up our schedule, and I'm going to share it with you, dear reader. I know for years I struggled with what to do during the summer months, and now I have a plan that works! (I tried it last summer and it was fabulous-o!). Here it is:
Every day (M-S) the kids have to do the following (when they wake up):
1. Eat breakfast
2. Get dressed (baths and showers on T/TH)
3. Brush teeth/comb hair
4. Make bed and tidy room
5. Other needed chores (bathroom, garbage, dishes, etc.)
6. ****School! (the **** represents our last name) --only Monday through Friday.
School will consist of the following:
*Piano Practicing--15 minutes (only #1 and #2 will be taking piano lessons from me)
*Reading --15 minutes
*Writing stories (drawing, too) --5-10 minutes
*Math concepts -- 5-10 minutes
All of the above should take less than 2 hours. Then, when it's done, we move onto whatever is the plan of the day. Here are the "plans":
Monday: Chore Day (grocery shopping, errands)
Tuesday: Museum Day
Wednesday: Park Day (or Water Day)
Thursday: Library Day
Friday: Craft Day
Saturday: Free Day (errands, hang out with DAD!, etc.)
Obviously we won't be going to the Museum ALL day on Tuesdays, but what this does is give us a compass of what to do that day --and then if we have time for other things, so be it! This also prevents us from getting bored, because we always have a plan! Hooray! Oh, and at the same time, I'm aware that these things may not go according to plan, but I'm okay with that. Because, see...I have a plan.
Plans ROCK.
What are you doing this summer? Any fun vacations? Plans for the kiddies?
9 comments:
School isn't out for us until the middle of June, so I have a little time left to think on this, but last year we did a schedule similar to yours. The problem was that if I varied it at all it cause complete melt downs so I don't think I'll be doing that again.
All I really know is that we are coming to Utah (!!!), I hope I get to sleep in, I want to camp a ton and see some sites around here. Good luck with your plan!
Your plan sounds great. A little ambitious for me, but then I'm a classic underachiever, so you go girl!
I have plans to make summer plans. I'll let you know how that pans out.
Year round school here...we get out for 5 weeks and will be traveling for 2 of those. the other weeks we go to the pool at least once a week, play with friends and reading and piano is part of our daily routine too. I like the writing stories/drawing addition!
We do the same thing every summer and I LOVE IT! I love having a plan and feeling like I'm a good mother because my kids aren't just wasting their brains all summer long.
This year I'm having a little anxiety though, because I've only had one four year old home all year and I've gotten really used to my freedom. I'm afraid having all these people around all the time is going to cramp my style (by that I mean facebook and blog reading time). I guess it's a sacrifice I will have to make, sigh.
That sounds like a great balance between order and relaxation. I have a hard time finding that balance in the summer.
We try and do something similar...even with my little ones at home we have our "morning chart" and "Mommy Time" until the older kids get home from school. I love the idea of writing time and I'll probably do a little more math (I have a bunch of math games from when I taught school). We try and do something physical every day (pool, beach, bike, park) plus library, dollar movie, crafts, baking, etc. I CAN'T WAIT TO HAVE MY KIDS ALL SUMMER!!! We're planning a serious road trip, as well (California, Idaho, Utah), so that will take up most of our summer!
Oooh, really great ideas Cheryl! It seems so simple, yet I never thought about breaking it down into days. That will help me get everything prepared beforehand; the crafts, etc...ah, keep it simple stupid (didn't we have a teacher that said that? ;)
Let's see our vacations coming up are Taiwan, Vietnam, a few beaches and of course Idaho and Utah...sounds chic, but really it's just our backyard. haha
I love your idea...in fact I just printed it out so that I can work up a similar plan for my boys. Thanks for the ideas! :)
I'm taking a break from my college courses this summer. I'm excited to be a full-time SAHM again, even if it is just for a few months. :)
I hope that I'll get to have time with some of the bloggy friends who are traveling to Utah this summer. And of course, I can't wait to come and stay in your guest room again! Love ya. <3
Wow, thanks for sharing your plans, Cheryl! I've just barely gotten around to thinking, "I probably should come up with some summer plans with the kids" and here you have everything all done for me. Sweet! I love it. (Btw, you are amazing!)
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