A fresh start.

Today marks the first day of the first full week of summer break. Time to relax in the sun and enjoy each moment of freedom from the daily routine, right? Nope. Not in our house. On our lengthy drive back from Minnesota yesterday I dropped a bomb on the little ones, "Starting tomorrow we'll be instituting a chore chart.... All chores must be completed by 10am.... And you'll have to do a minimum of 15 minutes of reading each day, starting with a Bible devotional..." I've heard it said over and over that kids like routine... and I like a tidy house. So, I came up with a way to make us all happy campers. A simple chore chart. Each one has their specific chores to do - from taking out compost, to feeding pets - and they get to mark it off themselves when the task is completed.

Honestly, I thought for sure they'd groan and complain about the new system, but to my surprise they came downstairs this morning to tell me that their beds had already been made (one item on the chore list)! They then set to immediately working down their list of morning chores - and doing a fine job I might add. Jack even made sure they all had their Bibles in hand for their quiet time of devotions and reading. Now, I'm not so naive to think that this blissful aire of attitudes will continue for the next 3 months. I'm fully prepared to be met with obstinance and a full blown case of the grumpies on more than one occasion. But we'll fight that battle when it rears it's ugly head. For now, I will relish in the fact that my house is cleaned up by 9am, and they're all playing 'store' together nicely while listening to "H.E.R.O. - God is my HERO!" on their CD.

One last thing I'd like to point out... we're not paying them. I know there's controversy about getting an allowance for doing chores, and we've decided that chores are a responsibility of being a part of this family. Something you do because you want to responsibily contribute to the needs of the family - without pay. Allowances - when we decide to institue them - will be as a means of teaching responsible money handling.