Lazy Sunday

Today was a lazy and productive day. Lazy because we didn't make it to church. We slept in a bit late for the early service and Karl was leaving for an afternoon out with some customers, so I didn't want us to miss the time we could have with him in the morning by leaving for church. Maybe next week we can get there. While he was away, the kids enjoyed playing some video games. Emma was taking her morning nap, so I did a little reading.

The main thing I accomplished (and here's the productive part) was to create a new chore chart/school schedule that I plan to implement immediately tomorrow morning. Up 'til now we've had no schedule and the chore charts were not working well for us. So, I had this idea today to create chore cards. I got out the index cards that I use for Corbin's reading lessons and proceeded to write a chore (or two or three) on each card, also labeling at the top whether it's a weekly or daily chore, what day on which it is to be completed, and in which room. Here's an example:

Kitchen-Weekly-Tuesday

Sweep/Mop
Clean fridge, microwave, stove, dishwasher, sink
Wipe down counters

Now, my thinking is that we will keep these in a recipe box that I have and am not currently using for anything else. I have our chore time scheduled at specific times (slots) in our schedule, and we will look in the box, choose a card(or cards) for that day, and complete the chores listed on the card. If we all work at the same time it should not take very long to complete those chores. I also created a chore card for each child and myself that lists all the chores that each child should do each day, such as brush teeth, shower, make bed, etc. I know there will be some chores that were forgotten (such as wash dishes which is one I just remembered!) and we will just have to add these as they come to mind. I'll be back to tell how it went once we've gotten a couple of days under our belts. I also went ahead and created my schedule....some times are listed for certain things but it's really more of a routine. I don't plan to let times dictate what I do as much as one thing follows another, if you know what I mean. I am so glad I have finally done this. It's really been overwhelming me just thinking about getting it down on paper! Now, we'll find out if it works. I'm thinking it will make things easier, we should accomplish more, and we will all be happier because of it!

I really do enjoy these supposedly lazy days. I watched Hailey walking around most of the afternoon with a book practically glued to her face, up the stairs, into the kitchen, etc. because she was so into what she was reading. What a difference from our first year of homeschooling when she did not believe she could ever learn to read! We didn't make it to church, and I did miss the worship and message time, but it really was a successful day in other areas. I'm so thankful I can be home with my family to see it all happen.