More than a Chore Chart: Our Household Economy

To go along with the iPad Pizza blog I posted yesterday, I thought I'd show you our household chore chart as well. :)

I tried to make something a little more than a chore chart. I wanted to give the kids an allowance, but to be honest, I don't want to give them cash (there's little enough of that to go around as it is!). All they can really buy with cash at their age is toys or candy. Having more of either of those things in our house doesn't make me excited (unless the candy is for me). So I decided on creating our own family dollars. This way they can earn dollars doing chores, I don't have to keep a ton of cash on me, and they can "buy" a wider variety of things with their money.

This is our chore chart. So the top listed "Every Day Chores" are the chores they are expected to do without reward. I believe in teaching children that everyone in the family works in order to make the family run smoothly. Sometimes we take care of ourselves (put our own clothes in the hamper) and sometimes we take care of everyone (Mommy does the laundry for everyone to have clean clothes, and Daddy cuts the grass for everyone to enjoy). I explained to them that they get privileges as part of our family team and are expected to do their share of chores as part of that family team as well. If they chose not to do those basic every day chores, they would lose those basic everyday privileges. So at the end of the day, as part of our bedtime routine, we go through and stick check marks on the everyday chores they have completed or not. It's ok to forget once in awhile, or to have a busy day and miss something, as long as it's not a consistent problem, I'm not too strict about it. (The kids LOVE sticking their check marks on the chart, and it makes them more excited to complete their chores- bonus!)

Next we have the list of extra chores they can do to earn money. My kids are only 6 and 4, so they cant do a huge variety of chores, but you could of course tailor yours to your kids' ages. Each chore has a value, and depending on what they want to buy, they can figure out which chores will add up to the right amount of money for them (hooray for sneaking in some math skills!)

Next we have the list of things they can purchase with their hard earned dollars. As you can see, over time we've changed the price on some things. What can I say? Gotta learn about inflation someday! Kidding, what actually happened was that we found they were earning money so fast, that it was appropriate to up the costs of some things. Obviously the privileges are very specific to the family, and you'd want to make your own. Extra "minutes" means lay down time with Mommy at bedtime. Lots of people disagree with laying down with their kids at bedtime and that's cool if that's how you roll. Maybe I'll write another blog one day on why I do it. But for now, all you need to know is that we time the lay down time they get, and they can buy some extra. They can also buy extra pizza slices (one slice equaling 15 minutes) of iPad time. There's a subsequent blog about the iPad Pizzas here somewhere if you're interested. (One day I may learn how to link you to it from here, but not today, you're on your own for now.) We also have established "hang out time with Daddy" for weekday nights. My husband works late a lot and the hang out time became one on one time for the kids with him. They each get 15 minutes of his undivided attention and time per weekday night, no matter what else is going on. It may not seem like a lot, but when you set the time and keep it, it makes a difference. It's usually squeezed somewhere in between baths and bedtime. So they can buy more of this time. They can also buy staying up late, iPad in bed, a trip to the dollar store to pick a toy, and if they both save up enough (we made a rule that we don't go until they've BOTH saved enough to go- no one gets left behind) then we go to Playtrium (our local indoor playground). I'm sure there will be more privileges we can add as the kids get older and their interests expand. Right now I'm very pleased with how it's working to teach them the value of a dollar earned, and to save their money up for bigger and better items.

These are our home dollars. Never underestimate the value of having a good crafting cutter for the busy DIYer mom! I'd recommend this one, if you're interested (I love everything Fiskars related!):


One last note: beware of forgers! I found this (bottom left, in case you couldn't tell which one was the forgery!) in the packet of money one night. Seems legit. ;)

iPad Pizza

I've had several friends visit lately who have been quite impressed by my "iPad Pizzas" I made for the kids. I had a tea party last week (that's right, I had an olde fashioned tea party and ACTUALLY USED MY TEA POT- cool right? It was a wedding gift and hadn't ever been used!) and all the moms took photos of the iPad Pizzas with their phones and specifically asked me to blog about it. So, I guess I better not disappoint.

I'm not much of an enforcer when it comes to screen time. I personally love TV, and we have the TV on a lot, as background noise. My kids barely pay attention to it. If they zoned out and just started at it and didn't play, I'd likely take a different stance. But as it is, we watch a lot of TV. But it's different when it comes to iPad and Xbox. Little Man was just introduced to the Xbox at Christmas, when he was given Skylanders as a gift (Side note: best and worst game ever. I'll blog about it another day.) We have a lot of educational games on the iPad, but I don't like to see them sitting on their butts for hours staring at a screen. With this in mind, we decided on a "one hour per day" rule (that's combined, iPad or Xbox). I thought this would fix all our problems (haha on me) until I tried to enforce it.

The problem with little kids is that they can't tell time. They have very little concept of time. What's five minutes vs one hour to them, right? So whenever I told the kids their hour was up, or they had 10 minutes left, or whatever, they got upset. Fights ensued. Chaos reigned. I tried timing the hour on the oven timer, like we do for taking turns with fought over toys, but they would be unprepared for the end, and not want to stop playing, or they would not use all their time in one sitting, and I'd have to keep track of who had how much time left. They would disagree with my calculations. Fights ensued. Chaos reigned.

Then one day, in a fit of frustration, I sat Little Man down and we drew a pizza on a piece of paper. I said, "Imagine an hour is a whole pizza. If it's cut in four, each slice is 15 minutes. You get four pizza slices per day." We stuck that crude pen-on-back-of-old-grocery-list pizza to the wall with painters tape and that was how we started timing the screen time. Whenever one of them wants the iPad or Xbox, they have to ask me for it. I start the timer for 15 minutes (oven timer, iPhone, whatever). When the timer ends, we remove a pizza slice from the pizza, and they have the option of using another slice, or stopping. I later spiced up the pizzas, made one for each of them, made them more colourful and nicer looking, seeing as they are now a permanent fixture on my living room wall. I also switched from painters tape to velcro for easy on/off of the slices. This is a good place for me to gush about my Cricut cutter. I LOVE my Cricut! Every moms best friend is a machine that cuts perfect little characters and letters for making kid-friendly items. Now if only it also made coffee...

iPad Pizzas are really easy to make. Here's the directions in case you need some guidance to get started:

You will need:

• Large piece of bristol board as your background
• Smaller piece of bristol board for your pizza (you could use construction paper too, but I like the extra sturdiness of bristol board when it's something the kids are peeling on and off repeatedly by themselves)
• Adhesive backed velcro
• Letters (you can write free hand, get sticker letters, stencils, or use your awesome Cricut machine- whatever you choose, the world is your oyster) These are my favourite:

• Markers

What you do:

Use something to trace a big circle. I used a dinner plate. Trace it on the large bristol board and on the small bristol board. Cut out the small one. Cut the small circle into four. Use a marker to draw dividing lines on the large bristol board to show the pizza in four. I coloured each slice on the large board a different pattern. Just because I felt like it. Stick velcro to the backs of the slices, stick velcro in the right spot on the large board (you want your slices to line up with your pizza outline on the large board when you stick them on). Add more velcro to the side of the large board so you have somewhere to stick the used slices. I used letters to add the kids' names, tried to make it purdy, you know the drill.

It's really straight forward to make, all you needed was the idea. Good luck and enjoy!

Why There is No Boss of Our Family

The other day my son came home from school with yet another "gem". He asked me, who is the boss of our family? It's not a completely odd remark. Lots of people talk about their family in terms of having a boss. Daddy is the boss? Mommy is the boss? Little onesies on newborns that say "I'm the boss"? Kids whining about whhhhhhhyyyyyy they have to go to bed and a parent saying "because I'm the boss and I say so." Definitely not unusual. But I'll tell you, there is no boss in our family.

There's no boss in our family, because no one person is in command of the rest. I tell my kids, "We don't have a boss, we are a team." Our family is a team that works together to make our household work. Mommy and Daddy are the team leaders, because we are the oldest and most experienced. As team leaders, we guide the kids and help them learn all about life. I add in here, when explaining this to the kids, that children need to do what their parents say (read: listening to your parents is not optional as a team member) because their parents, as team leaders, have been around a long time (a loooooong time, hee hee) and know what's best. 

This approach is two fold. 

One, it creates equality between Mom and Dad. Think about this: People will ask kids "Who is the boss in your family?". They answer, "Mommy". It makes sense, seeing as, statistically speaking, women do the lion's share of the household tasks that children would witness (cleaning, cooking, scheduling appointments, maintaining family ties, child care, extra curricular shuttle service, etc.). So why then is the answer "Mommy" met with snickers and giggles? Why is it funny to think that Mommy might be the boss? Just a little side track into the world of feminism. Take what you'd like from that. ;)

Creating equality in our family between my husband and I is important to me especially, because I'm a stay-at-home mom. I often talk to the kids about how Mommy and Daddy BOTH work. Daddy works at his job and makes the money that pays for our house and our food and all the things we need. Mommy works at the house and makes sure the house is maintained and clean, that we have clean clothes to wear and groceries in the house and good meals to eat. We are both team members, team leaders, and equals when it comes to running our household and raising our children.

Second, when we are all team members, we all work together towards a common goal (a happy life and smoothly running household). No one is in charge of anyone else. I don't want my kids to feel like they are subservient to me (or anyone, EVER). I want them to feel like they are a part of something special and awesome. That they are a member of a group (our family) that cares for them, will help them, expects big things of them both within the family and in life, and will always be there as their support system. You get this from a really amazing team. Not from a boss you are obliged to work for. 

That's why in our family, there is no boss.

For Mommies!

These bracelets for Mom are awesome. Pretty and functional. Remember the safety pin on the bra strap thing for remembering what side you were breastfeeding on? No more, now you can have a beautiful bracelet that you move from one wrist to the other. And it also is a timer, so you can remember what time your baby last ate, or what time you should next feed them. So cool!

Find them here: 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sweet-Green-Apples/265306813603174?ref=stream

Or here:

https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/SweetGreenApples?ref=shop_sugg

No such thing as being too safe! ;)

I have to share this awesome new product I got for my kids!

Are you ready for Spring and Summer to arrive? I can't wait for the zoo, the park, field trips for Little Man, the beach... *sigh*... Dreaming of warmer days! Anyway, I digress, these bracelets you get personalized with your cell phone number on them, and then if they ever got lost, authorities can quickly call you with your child's location. Great idea right?? ;)

You can find them here: 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sweet-Green-Apples/265306813603174?ref=stream

Or here:

https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/SweetGreenApples?ref=shop_sugg

Experimental Cooking: "Mole in a Hole"

The other day a friend told me about a food they love to make for their kids- an egg in a hole cut in a slice of bread, toasted in a fry pan like you make a grilled cheese sandwich. This sounded fantastic, and like something we could expand on. Little Man and I decided to name it a "Mole in a Hole". Sounds delicious, right? It's super easy too. Here you go:

You will need...

2 slices of bread

Butter or margarine

Cheese (I like to slice off some real marble cheddar. Little Man insists on "real cheese", which to him is a cheese slice. Either will work.)

1 egg

Make a sandwich out of the bread and cheese, then butter both sides of the sandwich on the outside. Use a glass, empty soup can, or whatever you have around that's round and cut out a circle from the centre of the bread. Place it on your skillet (about 350 degrees worked great for me), and crack an egg into your hole.

Turn your heat down a little now. This is the tricky part... Waiting for the egg to cook through, without the bread burning. Keep an eye on it...

When you can see that the egg is cooking up through the centre (and looks about half way cooked), you can flip it over. Be a spatula ninja- get it on there, then flip 'er fast! You're lightning! Do a happy dance that you did it.

It smells great.. Be patient.

We also made these:

They're so wee! Little Man said they were yummy. They were so small he shared one with the dog- puppy sized grilled cheese!

And that's all. Yummy breakfast, and a nice twist on the old egg and toast meal. We like to change things up sometimes. Variety is the spice of life right? Now go get your flip on, you Spatula Ninja!

How to Plan Treasure Hunt for Kids

For The Princess' birthday this year we did "Pirates and Princesses" theme, which included a pirate treasure hunt! I'm making notes for myself as to how I planned this, so I can do it again sometime, but thought I would share for anyone else who is interested!

Step 1- Plan your clue locations. 

For our treasure hunt, I planned five stops. How many you choose depends on the ages of the kids and their attention spans, how long you want the hunt to last, and how many places you have available to you to work with. I decided to send them more or less around the block in our subdivision and just crossed my fingers that no one who wasn't a guest of the party would mess with my clues. I had clue locations at our front tree, a neighbours front tree down the street (with their permission of course), the mailboxes down the road that are at the entrance from the street on to the trail that runs behind the house, and another at the next trail-to-street entrance. Utilizing the lovely trail in our neighbourhood kept the kids off the road.

Step 2- Write a rhyme clue that leads people to each location, including one that leads them back home to find the final treasure. 

How complex or tricky you make your rhyming clues depends on the ages of your hunters. Our party was two- four year olds, so they were quite simple. See the pictures below for examples of my rhymes.

Step 3- Organize guests into teams.

I ended up with 2 four year olds and 2 two year olds per team, and three teams. This seemed to be a really good balance of kids.

Step 4- Plan which order each team will visit the clue locations. 

The easiest way to do this I found was in a "circle". So, Team A went to the clues in this order: Clue #1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (stop 5 being back to the house, the "treasure"). Team B went to: Clue #2, 3, 4, 1, 5. And Team C went to: Clue #3, 4, 1, 2, 5. The thing to be careful of is to make sure your clues are self contained, so you don't assume that when you send them to stop 2 that they've already been to stop 1, bc that might not be the order they go. Having the teams go to the stops in a different order though keeps teams from bunching on top of each other and ultimately just all going as one big group.

Step 5- Right out your clues for each team on cards. 

Take extra care in making sure that each team has their clues in the order they will be going to the stops (for example, as listed above, Team B's first clue (clue #1) sent them to stop 2.) This can get a little complicated, and I got turned around a few times. Right it out on paper and double check each teams order and route before you write out the final cards.

Step 5- In a waterproof bag, sort clues according to their stop location.

Your Starting Line clues will be every teams Clue #1, and these are the first clues that youll personally hand out to each team to get them started, then one bag will be hidden at each stop. so lets say one bag is for a stop at the front tree. The clues at this stop (in your "front tree" bag) will be different for each team. For example, Team A would receive their second clue, Team B will be their fourth and Team C it would be their third. Still with me?

It sounds complicated written out, but it's really not that bad. Take a look at the pictures, that will help you. Just stay organized and it will be great! The kids had a blast with this one!