My Job Chart

I have tried many different ways of tracking my kid's jobs.  First I tried a simple magnet board, on which was a paper with their jobs and a "done" box-- they were supposed to move the magnet over when the job was done.  This worked for about a day.  A sticker chart similar in form also had the same paltry results. 

A couple of years ago, I typed up my kids jobs by day and put a copy in a binder for reference.  This actually worked pretty well, mind you they were also older at this point and reading well.  I think one of the reasons this worked is it was a 'neutral' third party-- I often didn't know what their jobs were so they'd check the binder.  Almost made it seem like it wasn't me giving them the jobs in the first place.  The second reason this worked is I was more consistent about not letting them have certain privileges until their jobs were completed.  And it required little maintenance on my part -- I rarely added to their jobs or changed their jobs. 

One more side note-- I tried a couple different rewards systems linked to their jobs that failed.  One was fake money they could redeem for activities such as park days, dates, etc.  The trouble with this was that when I decided to take the kids to the zoo, I never knew if I should charge them for this, so I never did  (since it was my idea, and well, I couldn't very well leave one home..and it seemed a bit mean).  One of my children just saved her fake money for months on end and never used it for anything.  The other one was always trying to pay me to do his jobs (not a bad life lesson to learn, but not the point of the fake money).  I don't know if other people's kids do this, but mine absentmindedly leave coats, shoes, toys, etc in random places and don't even remember doing it.  I also wanted a way to "charge" them for this so they could have a natural consequence without my nagging them all the time.  I was about ready to try allowance for this, and I still may.  Whew.  Sorry.  This is long.

Enter My Job Chart.  http://www.myjobchart.com/  My husband had read about it in the Wall Street Journal and wanted to try it.   I was hesitant, since we had a system that was working fine.  We've been doing this for about three months now, and it is going well. 

Pros:
First, it is free.  Wahoo. 

Second, it allows you to customize jobs for each child.  For children who can't read, there is a little icon with a picture-- for example, a bed icon to show the child one of their jobs is  to make their bed.  If their system doesn't have the specific job you want to add, there is a customized field (minus icon) for you to input your own job.

Third, each job has a pre-assigned point value, redeemable for different rewards.  You can also change the point value of each job if you would like.  Points are roughly equal to a cent.  The parent enables which rewards the child can earn.  For example, my kids can earn park time, dates with Mom, etc.  You can also enable physical objects purchasable on Amazon through a link to Amazon (purchase is still made by parent, and the child can't surf Amazon, they just see the reward and its point value).  For example, say my child wants an ice cream cone and an ice cream cone is roughly $1.00, it would cost 100 points.  They can also choose to save those points (as money) or donate to charity, another lesson I want my kids to learn.  (I also like that the program is positive, not punitive, though I did add in a couple of "rewards" such as mom bus service for when they miss the bus on their own account)

Fourth, the program sends the parent a message when jobs are complete or when a child wants to redeem points.  

Fifth, the kids enjoy it.  They enjoy clicking the box when their jobs are completed and enjoy looking at their reward points to see what they can "buy."  They also love sending me messages, though most of them are silly, and they get frustrated that I sometimes don't get their messages for a few days since I didn't log on to the computer.  :)

I still have my old fashioned binder in case they want to check their jobs in non-electronic form, but they actually get really worked up when they can't check their jobs on the computer.  (I guess this is a con)

This works because again, it is low maintenance.  Once its set up I don't actually have to do anything with it each day. 

The only big con for me is that I want them to learn to do their jobs without them being tied to money rewards.  (we work because we're part of a family)   In this case I may just eliminate the money based rewards and give them an allowance separately.  I want them to learn how to manage money, too, and in this case the parent is the one handling the money.

If you want to try this, good luck!  Again the address is:  http://www.myjobchart.com/  I would love to hear if anyone else has a system they like.

Love is in the Air

 Maia had a birthday.  I can't believe how much she has changed in a few short years.  She is sure a tender-hearted sweetie.  Even with her tender nature, she tends to talk in a really loud voice most the time-- probably a middle-child-can-you-hear-me-over-this-din kind of thing.  :) 

 Emerson and I actually had a few minutes alone together to prepare for Maia's party since a friend kept Ava for me.  It was nice.

Miguel was working late on Valentines Day and I was super tired so this is our Valentines dinner (you can see how fancy we eat at our house).  I tried to pour pink pancake batter into heart shaped cookie cutters set straight on the griddle but it didn't work, so I made normal shaped pancakes and let them cut them on their plates with cookie cutters then sprinkle red sprinkles on top of their pancakes.  Super healthy dinner.

My sister and I went to the grocery store the night before Valentines to pick up something for her boyfriend (and I actually got Miguel something, too, inspired by her).  We picked out valentines for the kids to give away at school and then she showed me the 'Thor' valentines.  The expression on his face was so funny.  We decided to get these for our own friends, complete with tatoos.  I found one with my name, an "I love you," from her and a chocolate taped to it from her.  What a sweetie.  You should have seen the faces of a few of the women I gave these to.  No, they are not my kids left-over valentines, I bought these for my friends.  :)  Miguel wanted to take me to Orange Leaf that night for our own Valentine celebration but I was tuckered out.  He's really patient with me as I'm tired all the time lately.

Christmas

We had a really nice Christmas.  This year, we tried something I've wanted to try for years but never have.  I got this idea from a family on my mission-- I was so impressed by their family and how they celebrated Christmas.

A few days  before Christmas (wish I had planned ahead) we drew names and each child made something for the one whose name he/she had.  We called it "Gift of the Heart" and it wasn't supposed to cost more than $2.  I broke out the sewing machine and we got creative.  Isa made Kaedon a sleepover pillowcase (for sleepovers with siblings, which they love to do)-- its just an extra large pillowcase made from extra curtain fabric from his room.  Kaedon made Maia a "Special Things Bag"-- he chose the fabric and ribbon and made the card to pin on the front.  Maia made Ava a pillow with a little house and button for a doorknob.  She cut out the fabric and got it all set up herself.  Ava made Emerson a shaker out of an old bottle.  We put rice, glitter, and other assorted objects inside and put duct tape around the top for extra insurance and some gripping power.  I made Isa a toothfairy bag to put her tooth in.  Miguel wired me some lights in the basement in our storage room-- it is awesome!  I put together a book of scrapbook pages his aunts send us every year.  They scrapbook a memory and usually a recipe, and with his Mom gone, these are special to us as they often include a memory of her.

On Christmas Eve, we had a "Bethlehem Dinner."  We made Challah bread together-- it was yummy and fun to make.  We dressed in clothes they would have worn during Jesus' time and ate fish and bread with our hands while sitting on the floor.  We had candles around for light.  After our dinner, we watched some of these beautiful videos of Jesus' birth.  Then we exchanged our gifts from the heart.    Though this did add some extra work and mess, it was worth it.  The kids really loved it and asked if we could do it every year. 

These new Bible videos are gorgeous.  They are so well done. http://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/shepherds-learn-of-the-birth-of-christ?lang=eng

My favorite gifts this year were the hand made ones.  We got a memory game and puzzle from Aunt Melinda made from our kids pictures.  It is so cute!  It makes six different puzzles.  Its fun to have a toy with our memories on it.  My mom made us matching PJ's, and even though Miguel is not normally a pajama wearer, he has been wearing them every night!  I also got Photoshop Elements and have had fun playing around editing my pictures. 

Entertainment, Jedi Style

(We're glad you used your Jedi mind trick on us, thank you very much.)

We recently put our DirectTV (or whatever it is, not sure I know) on vacation hold for the next few months.  It seemed like every time we wanted to watch something (which we seem to do less and less), there was nothing worthwhile on.  $90 seemed like a lot of money per month for 30 minutes of half-hearted TV watching. 

It has been harder than I thought.  I really enjoy having the preschool channels for the kids-- channels such as Sprout and Noggin and Disney (in the morning).  I like them because they're free of the kind of advertising found on other channels and their programming feels more educational than a kid's movie.  I miss it for me, too, and for hubby time.   I have enjoyed reading but I do miss feeling connected to the outside world, even if TV's connection to the outside world is sort of debatable. 

One night we had a couple of friends over and we sat down in our study and took turns showing each other funny (clean) YouTube videos.   It was so much fun we did it with another couple on a different night.   Here are just a couple of them.   The Cello Wars one is sure fun for kids; The Piano Guys make some great stuff-- there is a Harry Potter one as well as a favorite called "Peponi."  Kids and adults enjoy "Dad's Life"--   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOKuSQIJlog .   I couldn't wait to tell my mom about the Piano Guys and it was old news, she'd been subscribed to them for ages and didn't I know my aunt had won a service auction in her ward and had Jon Schmidt play a private concert in her living room?   Another thing I learned is that they are Mormons, too.

One of my favorite videos, introduced to me by my cousin, is called Alright, Byron ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaJ4c5D2vkU ).  Not even sure where it came from but it makes me laugh!  Sometimes, life gets tough and I just need a good laugh!  I love how creative people can be.

Heroes and History

Here is a really inspirational story about a female basketball player who chose to forego playing for the best college basketball team in lieu of living close to and loving her disabled sister. Now she has made the smaller local college she plays for one of the best in the country this year! She is a breath of fresh air as a real sports role model who puts the most important things first  (I love Frank Deford and his more intellectual look at sports...he is great fun to listen to, if you have a minute):

http://www.npr.org/2012/02/08/146514859/for-love-and-the-game-a-star-shines-in-delaware

Being a history lover, I LOVE this article about the people who connect us to the past:

'Rasputin Was My Neighbor' And Other True Tales Of Time Travel