How To Keep Your Kids Organized

I'm trying to decide if I'm a mean mom because of all the rules and strategies I put into place for the wee ones or if I'm just lazy. I have this thing about keeping my house somewhat neat and the wee ones helping me do so. Thus, the fining system that I recently implemented (which is working amazingly well by the way).

One of our other challenges is the afternoons when the wee ones get home from school. There is a lot they have to do, and we sometimes struggle to get it done without ... issues. Either the wee ones can't figure out what they're supposed to do. Or they whine that everything will take forever. Or they claim that they've done something but really forgot. Or they simply don't want to do it at all.

I've finally come upon a solution that's working for us. The wee ones are happy, we're getting things done, and I don't have fifty kajillion questions about what they need to do now. Remember the homework room I created? I'm using the whiteboard I painted for more than practice work. It's now where I create a list each afternoon - before they get home - of everything the wee ones need to do.

I'm a list maker, so I love the idea of a list. And the wee ones love having things crossed off. We learned very quickly that one rule must be that only Mommy may erase anything from the board. I will take it off only when the item has been done to my satisfaction - clean clothes put away means that the laundry basket has to be put away, too, and math homework means the problems have to be all correct, for example.

The wee ones love it because they get to choose what order to complete the tasks. They have control over it, and it makes them feel good. So long as nothing is mission critical (e.g., today, they have to change for gymnastics before they finished all their homework), I have no problem with that. And it's nice for them to learn to prioritize their tasks, too. Eventually, I'll require that they write down what they need to do instead of me doing it, but we're not quite there yet.

And best of all? It's the board that's telling them what to do. It isn't a battle of me versus them telling them what to do. When I see Mister Man starting to play with Legos or read a book when he still has tasks to do, I can simply ask him to check out the board, and he knows he has to wait. I'm amazed by how smoothly this is going for us - and here's hoping I didn't just jinx it!

The hardest part is me remembering everything they have to do each day. On Tuesdays, Little Miss goes to the school library and needs to return her books. I have to remember to write that on the Monday tasks.

But oh how it warms my heart to hear, "Mom. Mom, I just completed Task X. Can you erase it from the board?"

What works for you to keep your children organized?

If At First You Don't Succeed....

Hey Chicago peeps - do you and your kids like theater? A chance to win tickets to The Emperor's New Clothes from the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre here.

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One of the things that I have done my best to instill in the wee ones - especially Mister Man who is a perfectionist and doesn't want to even try the first time if he doesn't think he'll succeed - is that true success only comes with practice. You have to work at it, and it isn't always easy.

When you try and then fail, that doesn't mean you give up. Instead you try again, change tactics, get help, or just plain old practice until you get it right.

More important than telling them this though is having them see it in practice. And I'm giving them some good practice right about now.

I've been working on doing the C25K for ohhhh about two years and three months now. No joke. I got really close in July two years ago, but life got in the way and I got away from it, just hit or miss running.

I recently got serious about doing it again - and I'm signed up for my first 5K while at BlogHer (gulp) in August (gulp - heat!). It has been going fairly smoothly. While the weeks' runs haven't been super easy, I've been able to do them.

Until last Wednesday.

Last Wednesday was my twenty-five minute run. I'd done the prep work up through Week Six Day Two. On that Day 3, however, it all fell apart. A couple minutes in, my ponytail was starting to loosen, and I can't run with my hair flopping all over (my lack of sweating is a big part of that). I paused to redo my ponytail, as I haven't yet mastered the art of running on a treadmill and fixing my hair, or at least not without falling off the treadmill.

I began running again, but shortly after the five minute mark, my shoe came untied. And running with an untied shoe? Well, you just can't do that. And thus my run was broken. Before I finished my twenty-five minutes, I'd stopped for a total of four times. I was disappointed, as it was my first failure at the C25K.

I had a great set of excuses: I hadn't slept enough lately, I didn't eat a protein breakfast that morning, I couldn't get my calf to stretch, the gym was too hot that day, I had forgotten my water bottle in my car, I was focused on doing too much that day before I headed to St. Louis, etc etc. But all that really meant is that I didn't do what I was supposed to.

After my run, I headed down to the Build-A-Bear event (a post on that coming shortly) and although I brought my workout stuff, I never found the time to run before we left my in-laws' house on Sunday.

Monday I was back to it, however. I figured that doing the 25 minute run after having been off for several days wasn't going to happen, so I decided to repeat Week 6 Day 2 - my two ten minute runs. I did my first ten minute run, although it wasn't easy. Five minutes into my second ten minute run, I was gassed. I had to stop and walk for a bit. Unlike previous times, however, where I'd stopped to walk but then managed to finish my run after a period of relative rest, my legs weren't cooperating. Major fail.

I focused on getting sleep and making sure I had a good breakfast so that today's run would go better. Last night, I had softball, but that shouldn't impede me too badly. Oh, except for when I was messing around before an inning and took a ball off my shin just above my ankle.

Ow. It got the muscle I use every time I flex my foot, so even walking was somewhat painful. I dreaded my run today - another attempt at that Week 6 Day 2 - and now I had perfect excuse. The bruise on my leg would keep me from being able to do it.

Uhhhh note to self: do not turn to talk to someone while manning first base and waiting for the shortstop to throw you the ball!

Last night, I couldn't fall asleep. I woke up early this morning and couldn't fall back asleep and was exhausted. And yet I made myself go out and run - thinking not only of Melisa dutifully doing her runs but also Mister Man and what I preach to him.

The first five minutes of my run seemed to last forever - and not only because the tv in front of me seemed to be on perpetual commercial mode. I got through that and kept going and finished that first ten minute run. Once I got to the one mile mark, it didn't feel so bad - something I've noticed about running in the past. When the music cued me to start up on my second run, I did it.

It was really hard. I kept talking myself through various points:

Just run until you hear that Day One is going to stop their eight minute run - you will have done three minutes at least.

You can run three more minutes while Day One is walking; three minutes is nothing in the grand scheme of thing.

Hey you've only got four minutes to go; you've done more than three quarters of your running.

Day Two is the first one to finish running for the day, and that will feel good.

And then... my iPod froze (again). I had no music and nothing telling me when to stop and start. Fortunately, knowing this happens with my iPod when I run for more than eight minutes at a time, I had checked the treadmill to see when I had started that second ten minute run. I can't watch the timer though, or it kills my motivation. Instead, I focused on the tv.

It's ok, just get through this set of commercials until the next tv show comes on.

Ok, let's see if you can do it to the first break. You know you'll be done before the first break on the show.

Ok, maybe not the first break, but at least until the first contestant starts playing his individual game (this is the part where I admit to watching the tv that has The Price Is Right on it).

Finding those little milestones in my big goal got me through it, and I did run my full second ten minutes. Week 6 Day 2 is now complete. I'm ready for my twenty-five minute run on Friday.

Well, except that I'm donating blood tomorrow afternoon. I wonder how donating blood will affect it... nah, I can't use that excuse!

Strategy Number 532,742

We're getting down to the finals days for a couple of these. If you've been thinking about entering, go do it now - a week of summer day camp for ages 5-12 here, a fun Shrek-tacular prize pack here, or a $25 Wal-Mart gift card here.

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I treasure my sleep. I like to sleep a lot. I am not a morning person (and really not so much of a night owl either, somehow). I never got over the teenage tendancy of trying to sleep as late as humanly possible before facing the day.

On weekdays, this means I wake up moments before the wee ones and dress at the same time they do before we head downstairs to eat and pack up backpacks. It's possible that there are days I don't brush my hair or anything else until after they've been dispatched to school.

The wee ones, however, are morning people. They wake up chipper and wanting to play - knowing that the days tend to be fairly full, leaving them with less than the amount of time they'd like to do nothing. While they don't get up super early, I have had to institute the rule that they are not allowed to go into each other's rooms to play until at least 7am.

In fact, I don't really need an alarm clock any more, because at 7am ever morning on the dot, I can hear them starting their games, generally in Little Miss's room.

Weekends though... weekends, we don't have to be out the door at 8am. Weekends are when we have a chance to relax a bit more and hang out. And sleep.

Except for the 7am thing.

I've tried getting them to sleep later, but they really just love playing with each other. Even when they agree the night before to sleep in and not play so early or so loud, that promise is forgotten by the time the sun peeks over the horizon.

I came up with a new strategy last night.



At 7am, I heard Mister Man tiptoe into Little Miss's room. He ran back and forth between the door and her bed reading her the sign. Then he explained loudly exactly what it meant

And then he closed her door and went back into her room.  Silence reigned until 7:45 on the dot.

Unfortunately, I was already awake by the time he left her room the first time, so this strategy failed in its mission. I'm back to the drawing board. Maybe I'll go sleep in the basement on weekends? Or send them down there. Hmmm....