Wow, I could just cry! I had this great post, and must have hit the perfect combination of keys that created a shortcut of some sort and kicked me back to the previous page, AND I hadn’t saved what I had written ’cause I was just about to hit “Post”, and It’s all gone!

SUCKS!

Just so you know – This post has NOTHING whatsoever to do with my butt!

In case you all thought I was a perfectly normal, sane person – I’m about to blow that thought right out of the water! Do you remember me lamenting the fact that I couldn’t seem to get my brain out of Summer Holiday Mode! ‘Member me going on and on about how I couldn’t plan or organize or get my brain wrapped around…….well……….pretty much anything!

Seems that my perseverance has paid off! Yes! I am out of my funk! It’s fabulous! I sat down yesterday, and wrote out every random thought that I was thinking! Then I compiled lists – glorious lists – of………..

-things that needed to be done today

-things that needed to get done before the kids go back to school

-things that needed to get done next week

-things that need to get done in September

It was an amazing, almost orgasmic experience! I had A Plan! An Idea! of what I needed to do! I knew exactly what needed to happen today! What I needed to accomplish this weekend, and the rest of it that I really didn’t need to clutter my brain with until next week! Wow!

In the list of things to do right away was some charts that I had hoped to do to make things a little easier on me and the kids! Do you recall me talking about a Morning and Nightime Chart? Well! I did one better and even planned out the afternoons as well! Now we all know what to expect, and life should be a giddy experience in our little world!

I do have to say that I’ve managed to pass on this characteristic onto ALL of my children. Thank you very Much! They all LOVE lists and charts although in varying degrees. Xan thinks they are fun as she floats along with whatever fairies are visiting her in her mind today! They help J to survive an otherwise extremely challenging world, and then there’s Geli!

Oh! My! Goodness!
She got the mega dose of the Charting, Listing gene. It’s so bad, that she makes charts about how to make a chart or a list the proper way! I kid you not! Totally serious! Not one word of a lie or even a small exaggeration! I’m not even smirking a little bit! It is bad enough that I will sometimes hide the fact that I am charting or making a list so that I don’t have to put up with the endless, but ever-so-helpful nuggets of advice on how I could make that chart just a little bit more detailed. If I let her get going, we could be charting until the Rapture, and even then she’d probably stop God and tell Him that with a little bit of organization and planning she could help Him to get things happening in a much more streamlined manner. Yah! She’s a darling! I just love her and her over achieving anal-ness!

Any how………Do ya want to see? Do ya? Do Ya? I know you do, SO – without any further stalling, here is the chart wall in our house……..

I know that you all want a close-up view, and so here are the three charts up close!

The Morning Chart

The Afternoon Schedule

The Night Chart

I have to add some stuff to the Afternoon Schedule ’cause it’s not all that clear what I want or mean.

The “Down Time” is for an afternoon snack, and then they can veg out for an hour. They are allowed to watch TV or play on the Computer or play video games. At 4pm everything with a plug, and all snacks are done. At that point, they have to once again use their brains to either play outside or do a craft or play with the neighborhood kids or do their homework! That would be their choice though, ’cause if their homework is done before dinner then we get to have “family time” after dinner is done and cleaned up. That would be some form of family bonding like playing a game or going on a walk or to the park or something else equally as exciting. Can you sense my excitement for this block of time? I’m so thrilled! Seriously! Not!

In my joy of printing the FABULOUS block letters for the Night Chart – I forgot that my 5 year old doesn’t, yet, read, and I will probably have to find pictures for him to be able to figure everything out! That or else he will have to rely on his sisters to tell him what to do, and that should go over about as well as….as……well, it just won’t go over very well at all! Which brings me to my next set of Art!

We’ve been having some Behavioral Issues recently! It seems that Geli’s decided that it would be a good idea to solve every problem, every dispute by punching! Doesn’t that sound nice? I know that I’m so proud that she can level her brother and sister with one punch! Makes me feel like I’ve done a particularly good job of mothering! This one is particularly hard for me seeing I don’t really agree with hitting/spanking as a form of discipline! Where did this come from? Why is it okay in her mind? Well, the answer is that it’s not okay, and it’s gotten bad enough that J and Xan have started in as well! I’ve informed her that if she can’t get herself together (adult language paraphrase) that I will move her from her coveted room placement downstairs, and that she will move back upstairs in to one of the bedrooms up here! That got her attention, and things have been much less violent over the past 4 days!

In talking with Jon about what to do about the kids behaviour in general, we had watched a episode of SUPERNANNY where she had made teams out of the kids, and they had to work together, encouraging each other towards a common goal of a set prize. They win points if they are good, but if they do something bad, then they are letting the team down. Their actions and reactions have an impact on more than just them, and they have to be responsible to their team mate for what they do or do not do. We’ve created the Hot Fudge House with Geli and Xan as a team, and J & Jon as a team. When the team gets 10 points, they get to go to McDicks for a Hot Fudge Sundae.

They can get points for

-being polite

-for obeying

-for doing what I ask with no complaining

-for keeping their room clean

-for doing something nice for or with their siblings

On the switch side, they can loose points for doing anything that is mean or nasty or if they choose to live in a slovenly state in which they think that I am their slave. I’m seeing the points fluctuating wildly at first until the behaviour starts to change for the better!

Here are the first rough drawing’s of the house’s!

The yellow post-it-note will have the number of points that they have on it. Eventually, I’d like to get a really cute house drawn up (in color) or maybe even a Hot Fudge Sundae or something, and then have it laminated so that I can use a dry erase marker and add & erase points like a mad-woman! While I’m still trying this method out – Large pieces of poster board and Post-it’s will have to do!

You’d think that this would about do it, but NO! You’d be thinking wrongly! I still have a Chore Chart to create, but I’m thinking this post has gone on a little, and maybe I’ll save the Chore Chart for another day! It is our attempt at teaching our children the value of money, and to work for your money, and how to spend and save wisely! I’m sure it’ll be a thrilling post! You won’t wont to miss it! * Snort *

Well, I’ll just keep at it, seeing as “I’m on fire!” Hope you have an awesome weekend! May it be filled with organization and planning! Or if you’re not so much like me, then may your time be full of fun as you fly by the seat of your pants doing whatever it is that you do!