School is now OUT; summer, bring it on! I just made a set of Summer Job Cards in an effort to:
- keep Momma sane
- try on the "perfect summer parent" facade
- avoid THIS (we're in serious trouble!)
Let me just say this... I have FIVE kids. Some of them have made me feel like the mother-of-the-year award was imminent. Those kiddos probably didn't need a summer schedule. Others have been a tad harder to parent. (Although I haven't yet run naked, screaming, out the front door, it is occasionally in the realm of possibility.)
How the System Works
Each morning--or the prior evening if I want to still be in the running to become America's Perfect Summer Parent--I select the task cards I want each child to complete the next day and place them in a pocket chart. The order of completion is up to them. I have learned that it's wise to appear to give the natives some sense of control...even if it's just a mirage. I really don't care when it gets done. Although kids are generally fed after pets are fed. And playtime with friends usually happens after jobs are done. You get the picture.
Some of the cards go with the Vacation Workstation. But most are just routine tasks that I will need to repeat two-hundred-and-seventeen-times-a-day if they aren't written down.
*If you're already up for mother-of-the-year, disregard this post. If not, you might want to use the second, blank sheet to make additional job cards to fit your children's needs. I printed ours on cardstock.
Happy Summer, Everyone!
