Introducing Chores to your children 10-20-09

This past Tuesday we had the pleasure of hearing Erica Graff speak on assigning chores to our children. Erica is a mother of 4 children from the ages of 12-5. She firmly believes that chores should be part of a childs up-bringing and she came to tell us why. Erica was so funny & gave us tons and tons of information.

I am going to list out her main points of chore training. She gave us some great handouts as well on age appropriate chores.

A. These floors need a sweep - The "whys'" of chores

1. Chore training is good for a mom:

• You need help

• It's good to know we have taught our child a skill for the future

2. Children who do regular chores are natural helpers and will pitch in anywhere to help

3. Prepares our children for the workforce and how to be good employee's

4. Helps them be better mates, especially boys

5. Chores allow children to feel valued & accepted within the family unit

6. Teaches our children that any contribution made within the home is just as important as

outside the home contributions.

7. They learn self esteem based on real accomplishments

8. You wont panic when someone stops by unexpectedly because you have routine chores

9. Your child/ren will be less self-centered

10. You will feel more appreciated in your home

B. Wielding the Broom - the "how's" of chores"

1. Do not set your child/ren up to fail.

Example: "Go clean your room" What does that mean to a child? Especially one that hasn't learned what you mean by that statement.

2. Make chores age appropriate

• assign chores all the way down to the youngest child. They all need to learn

• observe what each child can do & assign wisely

3. Routine is important! Kids find comfort in routine

• children need routine in doing their chores, it will become "normal", part of what you do

• children see sporadic chore cleaning as an interruption to their day and aren't as willing to help out.

4. Show your child/ren Step by Step how to do the chore

• work with them as they are learning how to do chore
  
• then observe them doing the chore by themselves
  
• check up on their progress regularly

5. Make rooms in your home child/ren friendly

• especially true of rooms they are responsible for cleaning.
  
• baskets/bins with labels
  
• shelves

6. Give praise freely and deliberately for jobs well done.

7. Have an ending point to when chores will be done by or when they must be done.

8. Make the consequences known for not completing a chore

9. Make the reward or motivation known - if your child needs this

C. Into the dustpan -

1. Chore charts work well with younger children

• they can see what is expected - as they are more visual
  
• makes chores more concrete to understand

2. Older kids like check off lists

3. Make it fun! Have a family chore day with an ice cream sundae night as the reward

4. Provide the cleaning tools for each chore

• little kids love props, let them start by playing with items used to clean IE... broom
  
  

D. Don't sweep the dirt under the carpet -

1. Boys by nature are harder to train, but do not give up. Their spouse will thank you later

2. Temptation to stop chores during difficult/busy times should not be an option. Back to routine.

3. In the beginning the training is hard & there is more work but it does pay off

4. Don't drop chore training if you meet resistance

a. find that child's motivation and work with it

5. Do NOT re-do the chore your child just completed!!! If your child sees you re-doing the chore they just did it will take away their motivation to complete it in the future & it could hurt their self-esteem leaving them thinking "I never do it right"

Leadership Retreat - 2nd Post

So the last "Team Bonding" exercises we did was the high swing. There were a few very nervous ones who kept trying to convince the rest of the group that the rain was a sign that God did not want us to complete this task. But wouldn't you know it the Lord has a sense of humor and the rain stopped just when we got to the swing area!!

Needless to say everyone (besides myself & Kim who still has a broken thumb) completed the task and dare I say had a GREAT time. Just check out the pictures & the video's.

Getting all strapped in & ready

Ready to swing!

Pulling Jessica up in the air

And here she is just about to swing

Videos of Deanna, Sabrina & LeAnne swinging -watch all three!!

Leadership Retreat - 1st post

Yesterday, 8 of our MOPS leadership team headed out to Cedar Springs Camp for our much awaited leadership retreat. A time of bonding, fun, laughs, planning for the year, & just getting to know each other better. We were missing quite a few due to illness and family things but those that did make it had a BLAST!







Let me tell you this group were a fearless and fun bunch of ladies. I was very impressed with each of the ladies! Getting to know them better was so much fun. Oh, and the planning/business part of the retreat was fun too. ;O)

Craft time. We made some cool plates. (nothing more on this project for now)

Business time - assembling cards & signing them




Hike time, Yes we went for a hike in the rain!!

Our trail got to muddy and our fearless leader Deanna is somewhere in the background checking to see if we could continue any further and we couldn't.

LeAnne's boots, she was the only one who brought boots. Good thinking!


Our fearless leader with what's left of our map....not much.

Heather hiked with her coffee...now that is commitment

Along the way we did some team building exercises on the obstacle course. This one was a balancing task.


Trace our littlest hiker, he was worn out




Stay tuned for more pics of our last "bonding" experience & video. You wont want to miss that post!

Moms Night Out

Moms night out is just around the corner. Mark your calendars for it.

When: Friday Oct 23rd

Time: 7pm till 10ish

Where: At the church in the Friendship room

Bring: Your favorite board or card game & a snack to share

Let's get together and play some games, laugh, eat & get to know one another better. It will be loads of fun!

Just beware I know we have some competitive Mom's in our group ;0)

10-6-09 Meeting

Another Tuesday morning was had by all at the last MOPS meeting. Can I just say that I love MOPS this year!!! It is so much fun. So many new ladies, new foods to try and new babies. And we cant forget that Fall is here!! Bring on the Carmel apple ciders & salted Carmel hot chocolates!

We had a fun time of food, announcements, games & lots of laughing and then a quiet time with Colleen Norlund.

Colleen Norlund who is the Women's Ministry coordinator at Cedar Park and she gave a devotional on creating our Community. Our community within MOPS. She was delightful and so fun to listen too.

There are 3 "B"s of a community:

Belonging - to a vibrant & caring environment

Becoming - finding the support & encouragement we all need through these early years

Blessings - reaching out & helping, getting involved

We all need our own community and she likened our community to the beach. Explaining that the Tide pools are like the community where we all gather, the Rocks are the protection, or Christ and the water (girlfriends) within the tide pools refreshes us & helps us survive. I thought this analogy was so great!

She cautioned us not to cling to the tide pools but cling to the people within the tide pools. Like our friends or girlfriends. And she gave some good descriptions of Girlfriends, which were also great:

Girlfriends

do not compete

keep your kids & your secrets

give advice

don't always tell you you're right

laugh with you

don't talk about you behind your back

will give a party for you

are there in an instant

listen

bake your girls 1st birthday cakes ;o)

So go out and get involved in our MOPS community and why you're at it, get some girlfriends!