A Few Miner Adjustments

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Tutorial: Kid's Responsibility Chart

Last week, I woke up in a cold sweat. As I recalled the nightmare I had, I realized it was about getting myself and the kids ready for school (three different schools) and out the door by 7:20 am. And although the hubs is a big help, it is still crazy!

You can imagine that I am starting to feel a little panicked about doing the same routine again this year. So I made a few Miner adjustments to my thinking and came up with a plan.

This is what I told the Little People...

We will pick out their clothes the night before.
They can come downstairs in the morning, after they are dressed. (Dirty little secret: Since they were babies we have let them get dressed in the living room while they watch TV. No more!)
They can watch TV after they are finished eating with shoes on, if there is time.

This is my part of the deal, I will get up earlier and be completely ready, including eating before I have to wake them. Oh, that is going to hurt...I like me some snuggly blankets and pillows.

Well, I can tell them the plan until I am blue in the face, "No more wire hangers!", but I need to put some responsibility on the these cutie's shoulders.

Hence, the point of this post.

How to Make a Responsibility Chart

What you need:

A canvas
Scrapbook paper
Vinyl for your Cricut or letter stickers
Small Command Hooks
Paint
Masking Tape
Clipart
Glue

First, paint the canvas. Tape off where you want to paint the "frame". I lucked out that my paint was essentially ruined...too watery. So I painted it on and then wiped it off with a paper towel. It actually gave it a cool shadowy effect.

Cut out the kid's names onto vinyl with your Cricut (if I could marry it, well...).
Font used - Quicksand

Cut out 18 rectangles of scrapbook paper. These are 3 inches high.
Do a web search for all the clip art jobs (bed, shoes, toothbrush...) and print
Glue the pictures onto the rectangles. I laminated the cards to make them sturdier. If you can't, I would suggest using card-stock.
Punch a hole in the top of each card.
Place the Command hooks and labels on the canvas
Hang the cards.

For each thing that the boys do they turn a card over. At the end of the day, if they have completed everything on their responsibility chart, they will earn a quarter. I know I shouldn't pay them for brushing their teeth or putting on their shoes, but it works for us. And they have other jobs that they do without being paid, so it evens out. Plus, I am trying to get them to do this without my nagging them.

There is a bonus job on their chart. This is a once a week job that they can earn an extra quarter for if they do it. This is a freebie...their choice whether or not they do it.