Sometimes a mother can get mighty discouraged when her children suffer from " Veja Du", that is, the feeling that NONE of this has ever happened before!
It seems like every day, I have to say : 1)unload the dishwasher, 2) take out the trash, 3) get off the computer, 4) load the dishwasher, 5) pick up your socks..... all with a great big smile and a warm and friendly "Please, dear children...", of course! Sure...!
I haven't been able to come up with a system that automates these daily chores. It's like somehow each day is unlike the 365 days that preceded it and all of these duties are completely new ideas.
You can imagine my delight when out of the blue, Sam decided to organize the mudroom cabinets. On his own, he emptied them all out, and throughout the day, put things back in groups of like items.
He now has in his head, an inventory of the things we already own and where they can be found when needed.
In that very same hour, John took it upon himself to make a bowl of tunafish. This picture doesn't capture how delicious and timely this lunch was!
Meanwhile, I tried to stop Tori, only 24 hours post-op from surgery on her finger and opposite elbow, from doing housework because she was sick of sitting around healing. Tori is ALWAYS a self-starter and like her late Grandma V., can clean 10 times better than me.
I would like to be at a point where my dear sweet children know what to do and then do those things on a daily basis without having to be asked to do them!
I don't know if a chart, or a point system, or rewards and punishments are the answer. It seems like we've tried them all, but obviously not consistently! I guess I will continue to repeat myself like a fool, hoping that these habits will become automatic.
I just realized that they never will as long as I'm willing to live my life in a state of Deja Vu, that is, a feeling that I've been saying and doing the exact same stuff I've done daily to remind them for years!
