Being a mama to six is wonderful! I love it!
I love my children. They are so much fun and they help out around the house a ton!
The whole first part of our day is devoted to helping the family (with some school snuck in, but they don't realize that!). After we had breakfast and devotions I would give the kids jobs and expect them to accomplish said job in a reasonable time frame, then give them their next assignment. The problem was, I am not so great at remembering things (like what I had just asked each of them to do), and my kids are regular kids. They would get distracted, lose focus, forget altogether what I had asked them to do or just plain disobey and play. Not all the time, but on a regular basis, which was not encouraging.
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| Right now, Berg and Pella have one task - to sort two loads of laundry and take the clothes down to the right rooms. It also helps them work together and Berg gets to "take care" of Pella which is something we've always taught the older kids to do for their younger siblings. |
I realized I needed a better system to help all of us figure out what they were suppose to be doing so that I didn't have to keep giving consequences (sometimes to the wrong kid - oops!) for not doing what I thought I asked them to do. I had heard speakers years ago on this type of organization, but I didn't buy their materials so I didn't really know how theirs worked, but I guessed it went a lot like what I made up.
I bought some name tag holders and printed up all the little tasks and more that I would normally give them during the morning. All the kids already have their own color, so I used ribbon to make them into necklaces.
Now I know exactly what each child is supposed to be working on! They can also look down and see what their supposed to do and know that a consequence will follow if they blatantly decide to disobey what their task badge says, knowing it's Mama who gave them these jobs and that they are really disobeying me if they aren't doing what they are supposed to do.
When the kids are done with a task, they take it out and put it in the task basket Then they start right away on the next task Sometimes they have to skip one, and go to the next if another child is on the computer they need, they need to do something with me or doing a job where they need to be doing one. (Washing dishes and washing the kitchen floor are hard ones to do together.) When they are all done with their badges, they get to pick a snack out of the snack bin. So they are usually pretty determined to finish before lunch.
It's building character! I can already see them becoming more responsible, diligent, and taking initiative in their work! We've been doing this system since the end of February and I still love it! The kids love it. It's working so well! Praise God, because that old plan was not cutting it!
