My Battle Plan

I am a "sticker mom." I love charts and stickers.

I also love lists and schedules......and my label maker. I LOVE my label maker.

I love my household management notebook that I put together last year. It is a handy place to keep all of my neatly labeled charts, schedules, and lists.

I have come to realize, however, that my love of organization is a trait that I did not pass down to my son. He is a messy, unorganized, pack-rat. This has caused a lot of strife in our household. We are constantly butting heads over the state of his room.

Bailey, on the other hand, is just like me. She loves order. She enjoys organizing. I won't let her use my beloved label maker, so she uses construction paper and tape to make her own labels. She likes schedules and lists even more than I do.

In spite of all of my charts and labels, chores are still a bit of a problem at our house.

I think a HUGE mistake I made was the sticker chart. I generously gave out stickers for chores that were then traded for allowance - allowance that was spent on more toys to "clutter up" the kids rooms.

So, today, after I spent the morning gathering up toys to give away, we had a family meeting. We are making some changes.

Kris and I have been trying to come up with a plan and I think we finally put one together that might work.

First of all - the sticker chart is headed out the door. To be perfectly honest, I was tired of trying to keep up it with anyway.

Second, we are not giving allowance anymore. Kris and I don't get paid to wash the dishes. Why should we pay the kids to clean their rooms? We buy them whatever they need and most of what they want anyway. Allowance is just a novelty.

Third, they are going continue to help out around the house. Cleaning up and taking care of the house is just what has to be done. It's part of life and part of being in a family. They will still be helping with washing dishes, folding laundry, feeding the dog, dusting furniture, sweeping floors, wiping down bathroom counters (with chemical-free cleaning spray) - things they were being paid to do.

Fourth, I AM NOT GIVING UP MY LABEL MAKER. I will continue to label the shelves and baskets in the kids' rooms. I will continue to expect them to put their toys back exactly where they belong. Organizationally challenged or not (Zack) this is what has to be done.

And finally, NO MORE JUNK TOYS. You know what I am talking about - Happy Meal Toys, Dollar Tree Toys, Tourist Trap Toys. I am tired of little pieces of nothing that break and get scattered everywhere. From now on, we are only buying QUALITY TOYS.

We had a family meeting to discuss the changes being made and you know what? The kids are fine with it. I think they are actually delighted with the simplicity of it all. No more stickers, no more charts. They will clean their rooms every evening, and be ready to do other jobs as the need arises.

So this is my battle plan. I will let you know how it works out.........