Hello, my friends!
I have stumbled upon a couple really great ideas that I just had to pass on.
Rain Gutter Bookshelves. Here is an article about the effect that displaying the covers of books
has on the literacy rate of children.
Here is what rain gutter bookshelves look like (pic borrowed from raisingolives.com):
Here are some blog links with pics of folks that have put this to use in their homes:
Can't wait to give this idea a whirl...somewhere!
The next great idea is the NO MORE NAGGING MOMMA idea. This is a tool to help me keep my kids accountable with their chores and putting their belongings away.
How many of you in the course of mothering have found an incomplete/improperly done chore and ended up very frustrated with the child who always is doing a shoddy job? (Hopefully, I'm not the only one who does this!)
Or, how many of you have asked a child to pick up certain belongings, only to trip over them as you are putting the baby to sleep and then brake bones in your hand and wear a cast for 6 weeks and a brace for 6 weeks more, all because a child didn't put their things away when asked? Hopefully, I'm the only one that has had to endure that one...but I know there are lots of you out there who ask their kiddos to put things away and they forget to comply.
To help with this, I kept saying I need to inspect their work to make sure the job is getting done. This is part of training them in responsibility.
What you expect, you must INSPECT.
Well, I've gotten better at inspecting. The only problem now is that when I announce that a particular chore needs further attending, the child who needs to follow up and finish their chore is in the middle of making a meal, or doing a timed drill on the computer and can't get to the chore right away, or otherwise unavailable. So, I tell them to do it when they are done with the current task. Then, I forget and they forget that it needs to be done. Bottom line, there is no follow through on either of our parts.
Then, I read this idea in Family Fun this month and have put it to use. I have a white dry erase board hanging in the hallway. The kids see it when they leave the kitchen and school room, and I see it when I'm standing in the kitchen or headed to the laundry room. So, we all see this board several times throughout the day. (This is key in this tool being effective.)
Each child has a dry erase marker that they chose (each picked their own color). When there is an item left undone or a belonging not put away, I just grab that child's color of dry erase marker and write the chore that needs to be completed or the belonging that needs to find its way to its home. When the kids go to the bathroom or to their rooms, they see that I have something in their color on the board and without me nagging, they know to complete the job. When they have attended to the task listed on the board, they check it off, letting me know they have done the job. THEY CANNOT ERASE THE TASK...just check when it is completed. Then, as I go to fold laundry or go to the restroom, I see the job has been done and I take 5 seconds to see if it really is done properly. If it is, then I erase the task. If not, I alert the child, erase their check mark and go about my business. At the end of the day, I check the board to make sure all tasks are done properly. Each night, the kids go to bed with a clean white board and I go to bed happy, knowing we accomplished our tasks for the day.
While this sounds tedious, IT IS NOT! I used to do all of this in my head...which means a lot of things never got done or followed up on. This frees my mental check list from having to remember everything that needs to be done!
Here is the dry erase board....as you can see, the gal in hot pink ink needs to tend to the bathroom sink, but has not yet done it. The boy in blue needed to pick up the Legos all over his floor. He did it and let me know he'd done it by checking it off. This checkmark alerts me to follow up and check his work. And, the momma in lime green has a list of things to tend to as well!
This board does not have a ledge for markers, so I made my own out of a 50 cent pencil tray and 2 3M hooks (next to blue Dap ticky tack, 3M hooks are my addiction!!! THEY DON'T MESS UP YOUR WALLS OR DOORS!!! Amazing!)
I needed an eraser for this board. But, they are $5 at Wal-Mart. So, I got creative and made my own out of an old wash cloth and the miracle fix all...Duct Tape! The tape gives you a good grip and the wash cloth is just the right size when rolled up.
And Voile--- no more nagging momma! No need to nag, we have a dry erase board to help us all remember!
(BTW, the kids are NOT ALLOWED to write on this board, other than their check marks next to the tasks assigned. This keeps the effectiveness of this tool. And, lest you think this is cruel, they each have their own dry erase boards elsewhere to doodle on!)
