New kid and new organization
Well to start with we have a new kiddo around here. Last week we decided to take in a cute little 5 year old girl,to give Sweetpea a new playmate. Her nickname is Story and so far she really lives up to that. She seems to be a very imaginative little girl, she want us to call her Princess Tiana, from the Frog Prince movie, but I explained that we have to call her by her name. So far she has told me about the castle that she lives in, her little sister Vanilli, an older sister/cousin and all of the wonderful plans she has for her birthday, which passed recently. It is hard to keep straight what might be real and what is pure fantasy. I can't wait to get more info on her from her social worker. As usual we have no idea how long we will have her, but things have gone well so far. We have her going to a daycare, right by Sweetpea's school, which is convenient but also nice in that is gives the girls time away from each other, so that by the end of the day they miss each other and in turn have not fought to much. Hopefully that will continue.
The other thing that I have spent most of the evening working on is a chore chart for Bug. One of my top goals for him for this year is to help him to establish some strong habits. We started in the fall with him getting a fish and I was able to establish a way for him to remember to feed him in the morning and again at night. It was simple really, the fish tank has a light on and Bug didn't like the light on at night. So in the morning when he feeds Mr. Carp he turns the light on and when he goes to bed, he feeds Mr. Carp and turns the light off. I'm sure to most of you this sounds simple, but this in itself was a huge accomplishment for us, after a month or so he rarely needed a reminder to feed fishy, if he did it was usually because something unusual happened to upset this rhythm. So in the New Year, I am trying to slowly build on this habit, by putting his meds by the fish food so he can remember to take them himself in the morning. Now we are working on a night time routine. So tonight I created 3 chore charts, 1 for morning chores (brush teeth, get dressed, unload dishwasher, etc.), 2 for daytime chores (school work, clean bathroom, take out garbage, etc.) and 3 for bedtime routine (take shower, put dirty clothes in hamper, write in journal, etc.). I also printed out chore cards that I can laminate and put on a ring to remind him. So tomorrow I will show him both options and see which one he likes. My preference is a combination of the 2, with the charts to remind him of his daily routines and the chore cards for his 1-2 a week chores and possibly optional chores to earn extra privileges.
http://www.dltk-cards.com/chart/ Here is the link to the custom made, printable chore charts I made. Not a spongebob fan, but they have lots of different graphics to choose from. I used the image below for one of Bug's charts.
Here is a picture of the girls taken at Blue's fire station's Christmas party, last weekend.
This is Sweetpea and Story doing ballet together last weekend.
The other thing that I have spent most of the evening working on is a chore chart for Bug. One of my top goals for him for this year is to help him to establish some strong habits. We started in the fall with him getting a fish and I was able to establish a way for him to remember to feed him in the morning and again at night. It was simple really, the fish tank has a light on and Bug didn't like the light on at night. So in the morning when he feeds Mr. Carp he turns the light on and when he goes to bed, he feeds Mr. Carp and turns the light off. I'm sure to most of you this sounds simple, but this in itself was a huge accomplishment for us, after a month or so he rarely needed a reminder to feed fishy, if he did it was usually because something unusual happened to upset this rhythm. So in the New Year, I am trying to slowly build on this habit, by putting his meds by the fish food so he can remember to take them himself in the morning. Now we are working on a night time routine. So tonight I created 3 chore charts, 1 for morning chores (brush teeth, get dressed, unload dishwasher, etc.), 2 for daytime chores (school work, clean bathroom, take out garbage, etc.) and 3 for bedtime routine (take shower, put dirty clothes in hamper, write in journal, etc.). I also printed out chore cards that I can laminate and put on a ring to remind him. So tomorrow I will show him both options and see which one he likes. My preference is a combination of the 2, with the charts to remind him of his daily routines and the chore cards for his 1-2 a week chores and possibly optional chores to earn extra privileges.
http://www.dltk-cards.com/chart/ Here is the link to the custom made, printable chore charts I made. Not a spongebob fan, but they have lots of different graphics to choose from. I used the image below for one of Bug's charts.
I just hope I can maintain whichever plan he goes with, I am definitely not a well scheduled person, which is why I feel so strongly about trying to establish good daily habits for him. I wish someone had done that for me when I was younger. I love living on the edge and having variety, but there is a time and place for everything and even when I try to establish a new habit it quickly goes by the way side. Since I don't have a single thing that I do at the same time and in the same way everyday, it makes it hard to establish something new. As I tell my clients all the time, the easiest way to establish a new habit is to include or tie it to something that you already do on a regular and consistent basis.But without that basis I always struggle to establish new habits that I would like to develop. So first I will fix this for my son (with the help of God, my husband and lots of prayer), then maybe I can help myself. If the charts work for him, maybe I will make some for myself next.
Here is a very complex chore chart that I admire, I am definitely not organized enough to do something like this, but this is where I found the chore cards I printed out to make a key ring chore chart.
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