Skip to main content

confessions of a slacker mom… episode 3

hopefully this is the final episode.

last night, DADDY had a little chat with layla. he basically told her, “you have to do your chores.” I love how stuff like that is more effective coming from him…

so this morning, layla was up in plenty of time. she did sleep in her clothes again, and I think we’ll stick with that unless she asks not to at some point, and then we may TRY a night in jammies and see how the morning goes. tuesday is a band morning, so I have to take the little kids with me to drop off shane. (after a freak day in sweatpants, shorts guy is back in shorts. thought you’d like to know.) when we got back to the house, told layla to get busy. she didn’t really say much, but went in and looked at her chart. the first card was ‘get dressed’, so she kind of giggled, and moved it over. the next one was ‘make bed’. she whined and complained and told me that she didn’t want to have to do it. I reminded her that she needed to do it and it wasn’t that hard. she’s done it herself plenty of times before. we argued for a minute about how she was to do it, and she eventually went off to do it. about 10 minutes later, I went in the room with micah to get him dressed. her sheets and comforter were all straightened out already, so I handed her her pillows and a couple of stuffed animals that had fallen on the ground (her bed is the top bunk). she finished up by arranging all of her animals in some grand display, and I told her to come down. she went on with the rest of her chores, and was SO excited when she got to the breakfast card. she was ecstatic when she ordered her cinnamon toast and apple juice! she ate it with plenty of time to spare, wiped her face, brushed her teeth, and got her coat, backpack and shoes. before we left the house, I gave her her ticket and she was thrilled! I thanked her for doing such a good job and being agreeable, but I told her that tomorrow, I just wanted her to work on being a little faster at making her bed. she agreed.

we had no tears, no yelling, everything got done, and we got to school even before shane was off the band bus! and that’s something that NEVER happens!

I hope I’m done with this whole episode. but I know that if it’s not this, it’ll be something else…

I’m glad dave decided to have his little chat with layla. I was not so fond of the fact that her reaction to having breakfast moved to the end of the chore list was just to rebel against the chores completely. that’s not really what I was going for.

and some of you have asked about our chore system. here’s the link to what we use. it’s called “accountable kids”. it’s not perfect, but I love the flexibility of it; I love the visual cues (for non-readers and easily distracted people); I love that it’s not a ‘list’; which can be overwhelming to some kids; and I love that the completion of chores is tied into earning privileges like tv and video games. check it out!

http://accountablekids.com/program.aspx

Comments

Post a Comment

all comments are moderated. unkind comments will be deleted.

you may like...

finally!

here are layla’s curtains!  actually up on the window! i have to say i’m quite pleased with myself for actually getting this done.  but i have to give credit where credit is due… so thanks to my MIL for going to the fabric store w/ me and helping me with measurements and all that.  AND, thanks to debbie for letting me use her sewing machine and for ironing all the hems for me!  YAY!!!!
7 comments
read more »

i’m sure i will offend all sorts people with this…

… but i just don’t get why the entire world is so torn up about the death of michael jackson. yes, he had an insanely successful career as a singer/entertainer/pop star. yes, he took a lot of that to a whole new level. yes, i remember thriller and doing the moonwalk. yes, i remember wanting one of those red leather jackets, and one of those sparkly white gloves. however… i’m also wondering why everyone else is seeming to forget how he bleached his skin (and then had a big hit stating that it doesn’t matter if you’re black or white… always wondered about that one), underwent so much plastic surgery that he barely looked human anymore, made crotch-grabbing an acceptable dance move, hung his kid over a balcony, showed up for court in his pajamas, and, oh yeah, was accused of child molestation HOW MANY TIMES??? this was a VERY disturbed man. i have never understood why being a celebrity excuses people from upholding the same morals and standards that we expect of normal people. i w...
7 comments
read more »

for my not-so-american friends

i didn't have an actual roll w/ the green plaid on it, but i found a refill and an empty roll in my junk drawer (yeah, i know, that should tell me something).  but even the empty one says 'scotch' on it.  there you go!  SCOTCH TAPE!
8 comments
read more »

people are stupid.

today, upon checkout at the grocery store, i learned the following: angelina walked in on jen and brad! prince william accused camilla of being a drunk! kate has turned from mom to monster! george w. bush is on suicide watch! certain mystery celebrities have had plastic surgery flubs! who is bikini-ready and who is not? paul newman’s mistress admits he loved his wife more! why do i need to know this? why is it that tabloids, gossip magazines and “entertainment” tv shows make millions by feeding this crap to the general public? why is it legal for photographers and reporters to follow people around, stalk them, crash their parties, etc.? why are these vultures, who make their livings off of dragging people through the mud and making up BS about them, protected by law? yes, i’m all for freedom of the press. i believe that the government should not control the information that it believe the general public should receive. however, what about privacy...
4 comments
read more »

how to clean your room

i was discussing this sort of thing w/ my MIL recently and she said there were some books she had when the boys were young that explained things to kids that adults often tell them to do w/out giving them explicit instructions. so i thought about it and decided to write my own.  i mean, really, if i expect shane to clean his room, i ought to tell him HOW i want him to clean it, so he knows what i expect.  so i wrote them out.  keep in mind, these are 9 year old instructions. they would have to be adjusted accordingly.  i actually don’t expect him to do much less than i would expect of myself.  (bummer for him!) How to clean your room: strip your bed. put all dirty clothes in the laundry basket put all clean clothes in the closet or dresser put all shoes in the rack on the door. pick up everything off the floor and put it on your bed to sort. start by throwing away anything that’s trash. return anything that doesn’t belong in your r...
4 comments
read more »