Winning Summer

Well, summer is finally in full swing!  Huzzah!  I love all the summer things...I think it is a hold over from my years as a student and a teacher.  As the heat and the children's attitudes rise, I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon and share how we will be surviving all the hours of togetherness.

First thing first: Chores.  The three biggest kids each have a daily chore chart to complete.  This is old news to everyone, I'm sure.  But my greatest chore invention is "Chore of the Day."  There is a chore on their chart labeled Chore of the Day.  They have to check the dry erase board to see what their C.O.T.D. is.  This is great for multiple reasons.  First, it allows me to choose what really needs to be done today, as opposed to setting up a rotation that stays the same each week.  Second, the kids kind of like it.  Andrew said, "Mom!  Chore of the day is fun!  It's like a mystery!"  Emma, on the other hand, is hit or miss.  In fact, I think the number of times I hear "I hate my parents" followed by three door slams is directly related to Chore of the Day.  What can I say?  I'm in the running for mother of the year.

Today's chores.  No slammed doors for this one, don't ask me why.

Next: Screen Time limits.  Obviously.  I am not winning any awards for creativity, here.  Just telling it like it is.

And: Teaching life skills.  My kids are dying to learn to sew.  So am I.  So, I started teaching them the basics, and now after two lessons, I'm pretty sure they know more than I do.  We bought some fun fabric remnants from a friend (thanks, LS!) and they are getting all Martha Stewart on me.  Little do they know I am going to make them sew their own school clothes this year...

We are also cooking a little.  The kids love to get in the way help in the kitchen, so I often let them choose a dinner and then we work together to cook.  One day I let Emma come up with a recipe all her own.  It was called "Ramen Noodle Stew."  You can imagine for yourself how delicious that one was.  Too bad I accidentally lost the recipe.  We'll have to choose another one for our Culinary Schools of America application. 

Check back here soon!  As summer marches on I'm sure we will be churning our own butter and singing Kumbaya by the light of our own solar-harvested electricity.  (Can you do that?  Only time will tell.)

Andrew with his home-sewn wallet.  His own creation!