Summer!

Summer is here!  For me, that means some degree of bliss in not needing to stick with a strict bedtime or rush to do homework after work.  It means extra time to hang with the kids in the evenings. However, it also means a certain level of frustration at the loss of personal / husband / tv time in the evening and less sleep. :)  Everything has tradeoffs.

The kids are home during the summer with a family member.  As of now, they are all playing nicely together and generally getting along except for some one-off throwdowns.  Since we are into July and summer reading has barely begun in my house (oops), I decided that they need some structure. They now must earn electronics time.

I got the idea from another online mom, without a blog and I thought others might benefit.

Before any electronics, the kids must:

1.  Get Dressed

2.  Eat Breakfast

3.  Brush Teeth

4.  Do a chore

5.  Read for 20 minutes

6.  Practice math for 10 minutes

7.  Write  (3 year old can doodle, 5 year old practice his name and address,  older children paragraphs)

8.  Play outside for 30 minutes.  In case of rain, play inside.

9.  Get active for 30 minutes

10. Tell a brother or sister something you like about them.  It must be a different person than yesterday.

This week is the first week.  So far, a decent amount of grumping from the older two.  Hopefully they get used to it (grin and bear it?) soon!   I personally am not worrying much.  It's valuable stuff! They only need to do this during weekdays, only for the month of July! It's a light list compared to others. They are still getting plenty of summer vacation! :) 

I have tossed out an extra incentive for each full week they complete the list.  Probably I'm being soft? But... and this is the key.... these extra fun things are all things I planned to do anyway.  Sometimes it's really fun to be the mom! ;)