new habits

we've been forming new habits using the "chorepack" system from http://www.titus2.com/. it has been very fun so far and the kids are feeling successful and our home is more neat and orderly. hooray! i'd tried to use the MOTH (managers of their homes) system and was having a hard time being "on time" for everything on my schedule and feeling overwhelmed if i got off track, but with the MOTC (MOT Chores) it's been great. we are not on a time schedule, but we are doing things in the same order each morning and the kids are thriving with feeling accomplished in their responsiblities.

as i was reading through the book, i found that my kids were already doing "bigger" chores than the kids their age in the example families, BUT we don't have a basic consistent daily routine. (so, my kids do all the laundry in our home - sort, load, soap, switch to dryer, unload, put away - i only fold! and those same kids did not know how to make their beds and i never asked them to.)

with our new "habits"/chores, we've only established a morning routine so far. and it consists of:

jojo - unload dishwasher, Bible/prayer, dress, make bed, pour breakfast drinks, wipe table & chairs after breakfast, brush teeth & prep other kids' toothbrushes, organize bookshelves.

kiki - dress, make bed, clean room, Bible/prayer, clear table, load dishwasher, wipe appliances, brush teeth, wipe toilet.

ky - dress, make bed, clean room, prayer, set table, vacuum under table, brush teeth, wipe sinks, get hair done.

mom - Bible/prayer, make bed, dress, make breakfast, put vitamins out, rinse dishes, wipe counters/stove/griddle, dress sy, set school table, do ky's hair, check chores.

this is working well as long as we all start around the same time and stay on task. we all have to work together because, for example, at breakfast kiki clears the table, jojo wipes the table, then ky vacuums the dining area - all while i rinse the dishes kiki brought then he loads them in the dishwasher. so our jobs depend on each other which helps keep us on task.

jojo is of course the most thrilled, followed by ky (who is constantly stopping to play right now but enjoys moving a task to the back of the pack), and kiki is least enthusiastic, but still has great moments when he conquers a task.

i am just enjoying knowing that ky's hair won't be crazy and sy will not wear pj's all day!