Happy first week of summer break, now if only this Arizona weather would get the memo.
Its hard to believe school is out for the summer. I have a 2nd grader and a 5th grader- it doesn’t seem realistic. Good thing I still have 2 littles at home to keep me company for a few more years.
For some families not much changes when school ends but for us everything changes. Its me and all 4 of them all day long. This also means, 18 plates of food, endless snacks, lots of messes, and more laundry than I can count. Its not a negative thing, I really do love having this time with them and we have a blast. In fact, we have so much fun that our home gets trashed- yes trashed. Our plan for the summer is to spend as much time as possible together. Whether it’s outside exploring, inside cuddling, or just occupying the same space. In reality this is easy to say but not always easy to do. It’s unrealistic to think we can just GO GO GO all summer and not take care of our home. True the tasks can wait but for how long? Eventually, it will have to get done. But, who’s going do it???
I can’t tell you how much we struggled with this simple question before we created these Task Tickets.
Chores went a little something like this…
Kids: Can we go play outside?
Mom: Did you do your chores?
Kids: Oh we had chores to do- we didn’t know you wanted us to do anything…
Mom: (really) Of course you have chores- when would this have changed…
\ Everyone loves making the messes but no one wants to clean them up.
Kids: Okay… can you tell us what to do?
Mom: Takes out paper and writes 3 individual lists. (ten minutes later… everyone is gone)
Cue the head shaking, pouting, negotiating, crying, fighting, and just pure laziness.
Mom: Forget it, I’ll do it myself. 😤
Can you relate???
CONSTANT BATTLE
I still remember it so vividly. It was summer break last year and the kids were terrorizing our home.
STUFF WAS EVERYWHERE and we had a newborn.
Friends, I’m an organizer, naturally I like things to be put back in their designated home… and everything does have one. Not only was nothing getting put back but one mess quickly became 10, and then just total chaos. I was stressed and not fun to be around. I would describe the floors of our home similar to when a bear is piling food in his cave. Just in case he gets hungry there are options.
After much frustration, my hubby and I sat down and made these tickets. That day it took us several hours and a few designs later to get everything on them we wanted. We set out to create something that would excite our children and not seem like another chore list from Mom and Dad.
I often refer to them as chores but we prefer to call them tasks. We never want our children to associate chores with praying, reading, school, and just doing what’s expected of them. I believe that children should be helping out at home but I also think as parents it’s our responsibility to nurture them as they learn what it takes to accomplish said tasks.
The concept is really simple and the tickets speak for themselves.
In the envelope each week there are 7 blank tickets.
Everyday, you are responsible for your ticket.
This means…
You check off all the boxes on the one side and then you check if there are any write-in tasks for the day on the other side.
Once your ticket is complete, you ask Mom or Dad to sign {over} the sticker/stamp of your choice. (kids are motivated by stamps and stickers)
You then add your ticket to your envelope and proceed with ALL THE FUN!
-iPad time
-Playing outside
-Xbox
-Friends house
-Grandmas house
-the list goes on and on…
You can exchange your ticket for a monetary amount at anytime as long as it’s been signed. Each ticket is always worth 25 cents.
We wanted to keep this number low. So often we forget what it takes to earn that $5 that we misplaced in our pant’s pocket. We learned early on that our children didn’t know the value of money not to mention what it took to earn it. Asking Mom and Dad for $20 to get a toy was similar to breathing for them. It wasn’t until they turned in 7 tickets for a total of a pack of gum that they realized how hard they had to work for $20. This may seem strict but our kiddos are all under the age of 10. As they get older of course the amount will change as will what they are responsible for. Baby steps.
This process has changed our lives and how we delegate tasks for such a large family. When everyone understands what they are responsible for it’s helps maintain order and controls unnecessary chaos.
The tasks are not hard for them to do, they just require a little effort. The idea is by doing simple tasks everyday the list wont pile up and become unmanageable. We also included emojis to circle how their hearts were, awesome-kind-helpful-mean-sad-loving-happy? How they did at meal time? Sometimes, I even write in silly things or we draw pictures just to make them laugh.
I’m so thankful that growing up my parents taught me about hard work. Even though I would gripe and complain (as kids do) about the tasks I was given, it made me who I am. It taught me that life is hard but when we persevere we can over come anything. It taught me that if I had an idea one day to start an organizing business that I could do it, but certainly not without hard work. It taught me that helping others is good for the soul. It taught me to be thankful to have a dish to clean, a home to sweep, and clothing to wash. It taught me to count my blessings and to not take anyone of them for granted.
We face challenges everyday where we have to choose to work at it or simply throw in the towel. I know without a doubt its the responsibilities I had when I was younger that has prepared me for everything I’m responsible for today. Which is A LOT.
I’ve included so may different examples to show how these have become a part of our daily life. Our kids just know…
Chores now go a little something like this..
Kids: Mom, can we go out a play?
Mom: Did you complete your tickets?
Kids: I have one more thing to do and Shane has two more things to do…
Mom: OK, thats great, go do those things and you can go outside to play.
Kids: YES! (runs away in an excited way)
In full transparency, of course there are days where things don’t go as planned, tickets get misplaced or scribbled all over, tasks don’t get done. Thats ok, we aren’t looking for perfection in our kids, just a willingness to do whats expected of them. There is definitely a difference and these tickets have helped us to see that.
I hope that by sharing what we do it will encourage you to try something new in your home, too.
I truly didn’t appreciate what my parents instilled in me then, but I do now. Hopefully one day my kiddos will thank me too… maybe!
P.S. We are under renovation so pay no mind to the construction. :)