Meals & Chores

Finally I seem to be getting a plan again with meals.  It has been so long since I have cooked a nice meal for these people I live with!  I am tired of throwing things together, and I am quite certain they are tired of being served like that.

Tonight I am making a real meal.  A meal that I have not made, but have had the recipe in a file for a while.  Calypso Chicken with Down Island Salas (with asparagus on the side).  Sounds yummy & I even splurged on some strawberries for the salsa!

So here is what I have planned for the next 7 days:

15	Friday	Calypso Chicken w/down Island Salsa & asparagus
16	Saturday	Sesame Noodles w/broccoli & grilled zucchini
17	Sunday	Grilled Asian Marinated Round Steaks
18	Monday	Beans & Rice
19	Tuesday	Sour Cream Enchiladas
20	Wednesday	Baked Potato Bar
21	Thursday	Meat Loaf w/mashed potatoes & salad

 

I think my kids might start listening better if I am feeding them better.  Well, I don’t really think that, but I know they will enjoy getting some real meals again!

So, the other night I made it to church frustrated at these little sinful people I seem to be raising.  Sometimes I am shocked when they act their age – and I have to remind myself to deal with them with grace!  But ugghhhh!!  What do you do when your kids don’t listen?

I asked 2 moms I like & respect, both responded with “spank ‘em” – but oh, I wish it were that easy!

The next suggestion was chores.  Okay, that I can do.  But I usually add a few chores, I get busy, they get away and the punishment does not end up being so effective. 

Grounding them to the their room is only slightly affective since they share a room, being grounded is like a mini party!  Ughh! (again)

So, Wednesday night I came home and I wrote every chore I wanted done down on a piece of paper.  I mean every one!  Things I needed todo but never found the time (i.e. move the fireplace tools to the storage room, move the firewood off the front porch….)well, never mind, here is my list:

Clean the toilet

Clean the bathroom floor

Clean the bathroom sink

Wipe down kitchen baseboards (all the way around)

Sweep garage floor

Move firewood from front porch to wood pile by school building

Move all compost out of bin area & put back

Sweep Front Porch off (move everything out of the way & put it back)

Vacuum Laundry Room

Vacuum Kitchen Floor

Sweep porch in back yard

Sweep School building & vacuum

Vacuum living room (move couches)

Take Fireplace tools to Christmas Room

Clean out Christmas room

Organize book shelf in living room

The best part of this was that they knew the list, they got a copy.  They knew they could not do anything else until they were all done.  They knew I was serious!

The other best part – they managed themselves.  I was freed up to do some other things around the house. 

The result was like we spent the day spring cleaning!  The porch looks great, my bedroom looks amazing!  There is still some clutter on tables, but the results were more than I could do if I cleaned all day!

Whew!  It was great!

Today, I seem to have children who are listening a bit more.  I think I got their attention.  I think they know I mean business.  They are worried we are going to have another chore day, but to be honest, the list at this point would be much shorter!  But, don’t tell them that!

So I feel a bit better with my more obedient kids, my cleaner house, and a shorter to-do list!

My plan is to start a list, keep it on my fridge, of consequence chores.  It seems in the midst of the trouble I fail to think clearly with consequences – I get frustrated and upset and I lose my sense of what to do.  So, I am going to keep a list of chores we do not do weekly, yucky ones I don’t particularly want to do, and when they mouth off, treat each other disrespectfully, or something else the list will come out & assignments will be made.

I feel like I might just be able to handle next week, and maybe the week after with some planning behind me.  We will see!