Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Late Night Soul Searching

But first, I need coffee.

So I've been thinking about how this homeschooling thing is going to work out, and even though I told myself this wouldn't happen, I am starting to freak out a little (so far, only on the inside). The reason for this is that as I go through my day, or stumble through my day in a chaotic fashion, as it were, I am struck by my glaringly obvious lack of organization and discipline.

At least 80% of the time, I don't have anything for my children to do. I don't have a nifty cupboard of constructive activities to give them, or planned crafts, or interesting games, or even a checklist of chores to assign!  The downward spiral of chaos that comes from bored children is too much, so I am doing what I do best and looking to others on the internet to solve my problems, since I am hopelessly incapable.

It seems to me that the first thing I lack is a set of House Rules. Real rules, actually written out and posted somewhere very visible for children to see, complete with some illustrations, perhaps, for even the non-literate to have a reminder. I envision helpful reminders all over my house, much like in a classroom (or office!) to remind children to turn off their lights, make their bed, put their shoes away, hang up their towel, and most importantly, please, please, please wipe up those huge blobs of toothpaste on the counter and wall and WHERE THE HECK IS THE TOOTHPASTE LID, ANYWAY!?

Ahem.

 So you see, we just need some simple rules, in writing, so there is no mistaking where the line in the proverbial sand has been drawn.

In addition to the rules, I plan to make and implement a chore chart and some discipline cards for the older children in lieu of time-out. This is going to be so much fun, I can't hardly wait! I think my children will be ever so grateful and bow down to my wisdom and wonder aloud "mother, how ever did you know that we have just been dying for you to finally crack that whip of yours!"

Today's awesome ideas, totally not mine at all, brought to you courtesy of Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler. I submit to her awesomeness.

Now to go make my rules.

While I do that, you need a light-hearted laugh!


2 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh, we get the stupid toothpaste blobs, too! What IS that? Since I know for a fact that my kids don't brush their teeth unless I'm standing over them with a whip.

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    1. right?! Even when you threaten to go check their toothbrush, they will still swear they brushed their teeth until you start moving towards the bathroom. Except for my sneaky and way too cute six year old little girl, she will stand by her story no matter what, dry toothbrush be damned!

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