Tip of the Day: Chore Charts

As I have previously mentioned, I don't really use chore charts consistently except for summer vacation.  I just feel like it adds one more job to the huge list of "to-do's" that I already have.  I do, however, frequently use reward charts for my little ones until they get in the habit of doing a specified job.  During school, I expect the older kids to know their required jobs, and then I just ask them for additional things.

One thing I have learned with every chore system I have used, just like any other repeated thing, it gets old.  I have had some chore charts work for a month and others work for a week.  Whatever system you use, have one waiting in the wings so that your kids don't get bored.  It will help keep them enthused and won't become more work for you.

The most frequently used chore chart, of course, is the list with space to attach a sticker, or just draw a check mark upon completion.  This is one of the systems that lasts only a week for my family.  Having said that, this system works great for very young children.  I draw a picture of the job they are expected to do, and they can't get enough of putting stickers next to it.

One of the the things that worked the best for me for the longest period of time consisted of a clown holding balloons.  Beforehand, the kids colored their own clown and I laminated them.  I then put jobs on a series of balloons and laminated them, taped on a piece of string, (so they looked like a helium balloon), and then put magnets on the back of everything.  We then stuck the clown on the refrigerator and each kid would have to complete personal daily jobs, a certain number of household jobs, and a couple of weekly jobs.  Every night, we would stick their new job balloons in the clown's extended hand and the next morning, the kids would do all of the jobs on their balloons.  Their goal was to have all of the balloons "float away".

Another system that worked well for quite a while was the "build-a-caterpillar" job system.  I cut out a bunch of circles of different colors and wrote jobs on them.  I then laminated those and attached magnets to the backs.  As the kids completed the job they picked out, they would attach that segment to the caterpillar head.  The kids loved to race and see who could build their caterpillar first.  They would sometimes even start trying to build the longest caterpillar by doing extra jobs.

Another very successful chore system was building ice cream cones.  Once again, I put jobs on "ice cream scoops", laminated them, and attached a magnet.  We would put up the cone, and then pick out "ice cream".  The kids would really get into trying to build the biggest ice cream cone.  I really liked this method because after a week of successful job completions, I would take the kids out for ice cream.  This was a great motivator.

(Bonus money-saving tip:  For the magnets I used on all of these chore systems, I would just cut up the free flat advertisement magnets you get on the front of your phone books, or from various businesses.  Small squares were strong enough to hold up many of the little things I used them for.  I would just use Elmer's glue to attach them to the item.)

There are thousands of chore charts and chore system ideas.  If you try one and it doesn't work, try another.  Be prepared to change your system often so your child stays excited over the prospect of completing chores.  Praise your children for their accomplishments.  This is the best way to "pay" them for a job well-done.  Even if a job isn't done how you think it should be done, if your child tried their best, praise them.  And then go show them a few things they could try next time.  Be patient.  A few minutes spent now will save a lot of time later.

If you have a successful chore system that has worked for you, please share your ideas here.  I love receiving feedback from my readers and know that it is helpful to others, as well.

Down on the Farm: The Chili Cook-off

It started out any old Saturday.  I was visiting with a neighbor when she mentioned she had to go and finish up her chili for the Birdseye Branch Chili Cook-off.  That was today?  I had totally forgotten about it.  I looked at the clock.  I had a half hour to get my then family of seven ready, cook my chili, and get to the cook-off.

I kicked it into high gear.  I yelled to Richard down at the barn that we had to leave in 25 minutes, got my chili simmering, changed my clothes, changed my little girl's clothes, layed out my little boy's clothes, directed my older kids to get on their good clothes, fixed 3 girls' hair, combed down 2 boys' hair, jumped in the car and was only 10 minutes late! 

By this time, the judges were very involved in tasting various chilis.  I quickly added my pot of chili to those already there, scooped some up in cups for the 4 judges, and then sat down to wait.  It was at this time I began listening to the other cooks in the room. 

"I've been slow-cooking my stew meat since yesterday!"

"I started my beans soaking yesterday, and my chili has been simmering since this morning."

"My chili had to simmer overnight!  That's part of our secret family recipe."

As I was listening to these comments, I slowly moved to the outside of the group, hoping to avoid a question about when I began my chili.  Who knew you had to start it the day before?  Mine took 10 minutes, and that included the simmer time!  Out of the eight or so cooks there, this morning was the latest any of them started their competing chilis.

I was embarrassed to have thrown mine together so fast and bring it to a cook-off where apparently, I was out of the "know" on how to cook "real" chili.

The judges were huddled as the ticking of the clock sounded loud in my ears.  I was trying to look very  involved in my two-year-old's conversation on eating paper so that I could avoid any questions or comments directed my way, especially about the particulars of my recipe.

The judges stood up and began with the fourth-place winner.  Applauds sounded as the cook walked quickly to the front to collect her award.  Third-place followed suit.  As each winner was given their trophy, they gave a quick synopsis of the "secret" to their concoction.  Both mentioned, as if taunting me with their remarks, how much time they had put into their own great recipe.

"And the second-place chili goes to Melanie..."

I sat for the briefest moment while these words sank in and then hurried up to get the runner-up prize.  Everyone was looking at me expectantly, waiting for the words of wisdom I would share to help them improve their kitchen skills to the point of my culinary cook-off expertise.  I stammered out, "Time... and corn!"  Nobody had to know that by "time", I meant "It didn't take much."

My fans applauded my brief answer as if that is exactly what they were expecting.  The judges went on to announce the first-place entry, (which just so happened to be the one that had been slow-roasting her stew meat since yesterday.)

I really didn't deserve the grand award that I received, but after all, there were no rules on how to make a competing  chili.  So maybe I did deserve that award.  After all, time-saving tips are worth their weight in gold.

And so, for three years now, I have kept my winning recipe a secret.  (I really just didn't want to be stoned when my fellow chili cook-off competitors found out I started my chili 20 minutes before I got to the event.)
I reveal that secret today. 

Mexi-Chili, (as it was called for the cook-off) or Taco Soup

1 lb. hamburger
1/4 to 1/2 envelope of taco seasoning
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 can red beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can corn
Grated cheese, optional
Sour cream, optional
Tortilla chips, or Fritos

Crumble hamburger and brown; salt and pepper to taste; sprinkle taco seasoning over cooked hamburger.  Add cans of beans, tomatoes, and corn, using all juices.  (Various canned beans can be used.)  Simmer for 5 minutes.  Can garnish with cheese and sour cream.  Eat with chips.

Looking back, did I really deserve to win second-place for my fast-fix dish?  Probably not.  But in reality, when you have fifteen minutes before your husband is going to be home from work and want dinner, and you haven't yet thought of what that dinner will be, whose chili are you going to think of?

Above and Beyond: Real Champions

BYU's Jimmer Fredette and Jackson Emery hold up the Mountain West Championship trophy after Saturday's win against Wyoming.

For all of those Brigham Young University fans out there, aren't we "livin' the dream"?  With their 102 to 78 win over Wyoming on Saturday, the Cougars clinched the top seed for the Mountain West Conference tournament next week. http://www.ksl.com/?sid=14618181&nid=272

Today's "Above and Beyond" recognition doesn't go to this team for their performance in Saturday's game, specifically, although it was a great win  brought about by each player stepping up to reach their fullest potential.  This story goes so much deeper and really illustrates this team's heart. 

The Cougar's actions and attitude toward their teammate, Brandon Davies, has to be one of the best shows of forgiveness and love that I've ever seen publicly demonstrated by a sports team.  Saturday night, Davies was sitting on the end of the bench with his team.  Their comments concerning Davies' suspension showed only support and understanding for the mistake he made that challenged the whole team's spot in the MWC tournament. 

BYU's decision to risk the goal of a championship by sticking to their values and upholding the honor code maintains my respect for a school that should be living above worldly morals and, when tested, succeeded.  There are so many rationalizations and political slides that could have been claimed by this great school, but their honesty and ethics prevailed.  Way to go!

To the Cougar basketball team for your outstanding performance on and off the court, may I say you went "above and beyond" the expectations of your fans and non-supporters alike.  Thank you for showing the nation what real champions are.  It doesn't take a title, (although that would be GREAT!!) to show what you are made of.  

Crowning Moments!

It was time to put my foot down.  The kid's rooms had gotten a little out of control over our busy week, especially Jentry's, my four-year-old's, who shares a room with her baby sister. 

We had friends over that day and they had trashed her bed/toy room.  All of the stuffed animals were piled on her bed.  Every Littlest Pet Shop house was off of the shelf.  All of the Littlest Pet Shop animals were scattered everywhere.  The play-kitchen dishes were all dumped in the middle of the floor and had been spread from the doorway to the kitchen set across the room.  The clothes I had folded for the two little girls had been dumped in the doorway, (that by Brooklyn, who prides herself in helping me put all of the clothes away.)  Five different card games had been dumped out and the Skip-Bo pile was mixed with the Monopoly Deal stack.  I couldn't even make out a pile for the other three games.  The room was seriously trashed!

I was putting Brooklyn to sleep and told my troops to run and clean up their rooms before bedtime.  I was basically out of commission and was hoping no follow-through would be needed.

Jentry had a meltdown.  She just couldn't face her job alone.  After three times coming out to tell me she just couldn't do it, I asked my older kids to clean a couple things in Jentry's room, just to get her started.

After this, it was quiet for eight minutes, until Jentry burst into the front room, ecstatic.  She was trying to be quiet so she wouldn't wake up Brooklyn, who by this time had fallen asleep, but she could hardly control her excitement.  "Mom, I'm all done!"

I have to admit, I was a little surprised.  I asked, "You got the whole thing clean?"

"Yeah!  Are you so proud of me?"

Proud?  Yes!  It was Jentry's "crowning moment"!  She was so enthused about her accomplishment she couldn't even stand still.  Her little body was jumping up and down.  Her smile was contagious. 

I poured on the praise.  I told her what a good worker she was.  I told her how proud I was of her.  I told her I knew that she could do it.

The angels were singing the Hallelujah Chorus in my mind.  I was relieved that I would be able to walk to the crib without tripping on a toy; that Jentry could get in bed without me having to go to a whole bunch of effort tonight.

As the third "HALLELUJAH!" was echoing in my mind, it came to a screeching, abrupt end as Jentry announced, just as enthusiastic as ever, "You can pretty much walk in, now!"

Not wanting to knock her little crown of glory off, I told her I couldn't wait to see it.  I carried Brooklyn into the bedroom that I wasn't sure I wanted to see.  Sure enough, I could walk in!  And if I balanced very carefully, I could follow the small winding trail where the toys had been pushed to the side, all the way to the crib!

Jentry had followed me and was waiting for my reaction.  I have to admit I was secretly groaning, but her look of expectation was more than I could resist.  I layed Brooklyn down and picked my excited little girl up and gave her a big squeeze.  I told her how big she was getting and that she had done a great job.  I thought to myself, "I guess I don't have ANYTHING to do tomorrow."

Jentry skipped off, still excited about her accomplishment, and seemingly satisfied with my response.  I had to smile when I heard her tell her sisters, "I'm all finished with my room!  Do you want me to help you with yours?"

Everything I Learned, I Learned in Kindergarten...and Then Re-learned as a Mom!

The Crab Nebula, a supernova remnant

Astronomy 105: Astronomy is the natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects (such as stars, planets, comets, nebulae, star clusters, and galaxies.)  This broad term has only recently, within the 20th century, been broken down into specific sub-terms such as stellar astronomy, galactic astronomy, extragalactic astronomy, cosmology, etc.

As I studied up on this topic, a very interesting parallel was found between astrometry, the measurement of the positions of celestial objects, and what I really did learn in kindergarten, or before.

According to Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomy#Stellar_astronomy, this measurement of stellar parallax of nearby stars provides a fundamental baseline in the cosmic distance ladder that is used to measure the scale of the universe.

Well, all I can say, (or rather sing) is, "Twinkle, twinkle, little star.  How I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky.  Twinkle, twinkle, little star.  How I wonder what you are."  This little song, that my kids can sing by the time they're two, already announces the phenomenon of stars, (they twinkle,) alluding to the fact that they produce their own light.  We also already know where they are in relation to the Earth, (which astronomers have spent billions of dollars to find out):  up above the world so high.  Do we really need to know more?

I guess one of the biggest reasons for studying our galaxy and her stars is to learn more about our own great star, the Sun.  Johannes Kepler and Newton spent their life studying the motion of the planets with the Sun in the center.  Their life-long examination explained how the planets, and all celestial bodies in our galaxy, revolve around the sun, which provides them with light and warmth.

Once again, a mother and her lullaby come through.  "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.  You make me happy, when skies are gray.  You'll never know, dear, how much I love you.  Please don't take my sunshine away."  This song teaches about the light, (or happiness,) provided by the sun.  It also explains why children think the world revolves around them!

Let me just suggest to NASA, or whoever else is forking out billions to study the remnants of supernova and the black holes of remote intergalactic clusters, LOOK TO YOUR MOTHER.  You probably will find the answers to all of your cosmic mysteries in the sweet lullabies of your childhood.

Tip of the Day: Saturday is a Special Day

Many of us are familiar with the primary song "Saturday."  In the song, it says, "Saturday is a special day...."  I try to make Saturday special for my kids.  I also try to give the house a makeover on Saturday.  Doing both of these things on one day is a challenge.  Cleaning is not in the definition of "special" to my kids.

We try to get the cleaning part done as fast and as fun as possible.  Then the rest of the day is open to playing games, making homemade English Muffins, (http://savingcentbycent.blogsot.com/), or any other treat that sounds good. 

I've listed some of my kid's favorite cleaning "activities".  I hope some of them work for you.

Coin Find:  This entails me going into all of the rooms that are on the cleaning schedule for the day and hiding money under objects laying around, in the laundry that needs folded, or hidden somewhere that I know it will be found.  We usually, then, draw a job out of a hat and all of the kids run in that room and start cleaning.  They get  to keep whatever money they find.  The only drawback to this is teaching the younger kids that you can't just lift up a misplaced item to find money and then throw it back down.  You have to put away anything that you pick up.  It's amazing how fast the kids will work, even for pennies!

Popping Balloons:  This is a big hit with my kids.  I write a list of jobs that need done and then cut them out.  The paper with the job on it goes into a balloon that I proceed to blow up.  Then, I have the kids, one by one, pop a balloon to find which job we will perform next.  I usually include "Snack Break" once or twice in the list to give the kids a little break.

Hide-and-Seek:  This activity begins the same way as the previous one with me making a list and cutting the items out.  Then I hide the jobs in one certain room and the kids take turns finding the job we are to work on next.

Draw Out of a Hat:  I resort to this when we don't have a lot of time and I just need the jobs done.  I write a list, cut the job items out and throw them in a hat.  The kids take turns drawing out.  I sometimes include in the list things like, "Get a Treat", or "Take a Break".

Timed Events:  This is one of the quickest methods I've found.  I figure out how long the job should take and set the timer.  If the kids get the job done in that amount of time, they get one piece of candy each.  If they don't, we just have to move on to the next job.

Beat Mr. Baggy:  This kind of goes along with the timed event but adds an extra element.  I have a big beach bag that I drew a face on.  The kids have a certain amount of time to clean and then Mr. Baggy gets to "eat" whatever is left.  This works especially well in kid's bedrooms.  The kids then have to do an extra job to earn back whatever Mr. Baggy "ate".  I really like doing this at random times during the week when I see the kid's room needs cleaning up.

I Spy...:  When we are playing this game, I spy a certain color, shape, or size and everybody makes a mad dash to clean up everything they can find that fits my description.  I also may spy shoes, for instance, or particular items.

Magic Scraps:  This game is where I make note of a certain thing that is out of place, in my head, and everybody works as fast as they can to clean the room.  Whoever happened to pick up the "magic scrap" that I was thinking of, they get a treat.

Easter Egg Hunt:  This is a popular method just before and a few weeks after Easter, because all of the plastic eggs are out.  I make a job list, cut it up, and then put the jobs in the Easter eggs.  I then hide the eggs and the kids take turns finding them and doing the job inside.

Some Saturdays, I have only "fun" jobs. These are the deeper-cleaning jobs. The kids get to wash windows, (remember when that used to be fun?), mop the floor ice-skating style, or play in soapy bubbles while they wash dishes, walls, cupboards, etc.

It is easy to combine some of these games together to add variation. I also sometimes split the kids up in teams, or assign us all to our own individual jobs.  I sometimes help the kids with their jobs, or they vote to have me do one of the less desirable jobs while they're doing another.

If you have some fun cleaning ideas, be sure to share them in the comment section of this post.  Next week, I will list some of the chore charts I use  that seem to work during summers or vacation days for me.

Down on the Farm: Road Kill

Over the past few weeks, I have discussed numerous aspects of motherhood, but I have not yet touched on the highly acclaimed but never popular topic of morning sickness.

I experienced this not so glamorous side effect of pregnancy with all six of my children.  I would start to feel the nauseousness like clock work at eight weeks along and carry it through until about five months, when I would start to feel better.

When I was four months pregnant with our third child, Katelyn, Richard and I were in the process of building in Birdseye.  We were living in Mapleton but had started attending the branch on Sundays.  Nobody yet knew that I was pregnant.  Richard and I prided ourselves on how long we could hide it before the news came out. 

This particular Sunday started out like many of the others.  I began the day with some cream of wheat and toast, (it goes down smoothly and comes back up the same way - can I say that  in public?)  Richard and I were speaking in sacrament meeting and so of course, we wanted everything to run smoothly. 

We left early, wanting to get there in plenty of time.  As we were driving up the windy canyon, morning sickness bore its ugly head.  I informed Richard he would have to pull over immediately, which was a feat in this section of the canyon.  But like the true professional he was in this kind of situation, he zipped off the highway onto the narrow shoulder, and I quickly jumped out.

As I stepped away from the car, hoping the fresh air would be enough to get us back on the road, there it was.  An unfortunate deer had got hit by a car right in this particular spot, and not just recently by the look of things.  Needless to say, my hope for fresh air was dashed in a whiff and also needless to say, it took more than a little fresh air to help me get back on the road.

I have to admit, I don't look at road kill without thinking of this moment in my life and laughing, (now).  And if there's any advice I can share, it is this: when we women need you men to pull over immediately, you probably have enough time to inspect if something has already been pulled over, or should I say drug over, there first.