Waffles on Wednesday and Other Summer Plans

On the brink of summer I get giddy thinking about making my summer schedule.  I love me a plan.  And I love making a plan.  (When a plan works out I can pat myself on the back for making a good plan.  When a plan doesn't work out, I get to re-vise my plan.  It's a win-win situation.)

Our summer schedule has evolved over the years from very stuctured (exhausting) to slightly structured.  I cannot not have structure.  I am not a chillaxin' mom who can meander through lazy summer days throwing in spontaneous fun here and there.  So, my goal this year is to give myself and the kids a little bit of structure while not over planning and a good dose of fun and memory making too.

This is what we came up with:

Morning routines:
kids- dress, make bed, brush teeth, do one "popsicle job" (see post script)
me- unload dishwasher, start laundry, dinner prep, help S with his pop job

We have a simple breakfast and lunch menu for M-F, and it's the same each week.

I have a task of the day M-F to focus on weekly (grocery shopping, bathrooms, floors, decluttering, etc) and a specific laundry assignment for each day.

Evening routines:
dinner chores (see chart)
laundry put away
family prayer and scripture

We made a new dinner chore chart adding Seth who is now 4 and Dad who is now 40 to the rotation.  We have six jobs-- set and clear table, sweep, vaccum, trash/recycle out, dishes and countertops, walk dog and feed pets.

As for our "free" time-- in the past I had a day of the week assigned to something like swimming pool or library.  But for the first time we are giving this "Summer Bucket List" a try.  We brainstormed together and also got several ideas from looking at other people's lists (see Pinterest) and came up with many things we would like to do this summer.  It's simply an idea list and there is no pressure to do everything on it.

It's been good so far ("so far" being a total of 9 weekdays of no school.)  Keeping up with our chores (morning and evening routines) keeps the house decent and my blood pressure moderate.  I am not overwhelmed with activities (though I am sometimes overwhelmed with bickering children.)  Its nice to be able to relax knowing that we have many good ideas to choose from for or funtime, and we can do them whenever we want. 

PS- Popsicle Jobs are a gem I was introduced to a few years ago on Stacy Julian's blog (www.stacyjulian.com/blog.)  Unfortunately, searching her archives for the post where she explains Popsicle Jobs and gives examples has not been fruitful. (Pinterest was not available back then, or I would have pinned it for sure.)

This is how popsicle jobs work in my family:

They are called popsicle jobs because a single chore is written on one side of a popsicle stick.  My four kids choose one stick each day M-F so we have 20 jobs.  I color code the end of the sticks as to which day of the week they are to be done so that I can coordinate similar jobs specific days.  For example all bathroom related jobs (toilet swishing, mirrors, sinks, and trash removal) are done on Tuesday when the bathroom is my main task.  See?  I am actually getting help with MY jobs.  Genius, I know.  Anyway, someone that is less Type A than me could probably go totally random leaving the jobs to be done on any old day of the week. :)

We have used popsicle jobs for a few years now.  They are keepers.  My kids are very agreeable to them (must be the element of chance and mystery.) Popsicle jobs help me to get the family involved in doing some of the minor but necessary tasks that make the home a most pleasant place to be.   Each job is simple- taking about 5-10 minutes at the most to complete so there is nothing to whine about.