Sunday's Suggestions

I was visiting Mommy's Martini this morning and loved her Weekly Scorecard idea, even threatened to steal... um, borrow it. Of course after mulling this idea over I realized that a scorecard would negatively reflect on me as much as the girls, and frankly I can't take the pressure of trying to get good grades during the summer. But that along with Star's ideas for decorating her toddler's room on the cheap gave me a new idea. I know! One of my very own?! I am not actually ripping off of anyone? Okay, well not knowingly. Goodness knows I've probably seen something like it at one time or another, because as we've previously established here I am not original. I can however put a creative spin on just about anyone's idea and try to pass it off as my own... um, give due credit.

My idea? I am going to try to post on Sundays a short list of things to do with the girls during these long summer days. We do VBS for one week and my older daughter does one week of camp and that is it. Being a one income family we can't afford more than that. Plus it's SUMMER and in our opinion, kids just need to be kids. Summer is for relaxing and recuperating!

I've come up with 3 categories so far.

On the Cheap: inexpensive, or better yet, free activities to combat the "I'm boreds!"

No More Tears: creative ideas for getting chores done without tantrums. Hey, I can hope, can't I?

Afternoon Thunderstorm Warnings: In Florida between 3:00pm and 5:00pm there is a 90% chance it will rain. Yes EVERYDAY. It doesn't usually last long, but that time of day is what I refer to as the "witching hour" since the day we brought Breanna home from the hospital.

Hopefully some of my ideas will work for others. And of course my ulterior motive is to get new fun ideas from my stalkers... um readers.

Without further ado the first edition of
Sunday Suggestions
: No More Tears

Today I'll start with our never ending battle LAUNDRY.

I have started giving them each a laundry basket and sending them to the bathroom hamper to have a sorting contest. Basically see who can fill their hamper faster. First one full gets to help pour the soap and start the washer. Doesn't sound like much, but they like it and it gets all the dirty laundry into the laundry room without killing my back.
Our biggest issue though is getting the clothes folded. We DVR various 'not kid' shows like John and Kate + 8 and Little People, Big World and then watch them together while folding laundry. This was a bit more appealing before they started playing the Wii in the living room. Used to be the living room was our room and it was a treat to watch shows on our bigger tv, but it usually works.
Now, if I've timed it right they are finished folding before the shows are over. Then they get to finish watching and they race to put the clothes away during commercials.

Sidenote: As I was writing this up my 5 year old was more throwing laundry than folding it. She is now in her room until she's ready to finish her laundry. Hmmm, might want to be checking for Sunday Suggestions to turn into my True Confession Thurdays. Hey, Breanna's laundry is done, at least I won half the battle!

I also added a What We are Reading section to my sidebar. Yesterday we introduced Brooke Marie to Junie B. and she loved her of course. So as we read our way through the summer I thought we'd share what we are reading. Hopefully we'll inspire others to pick up some new books too.

6 comments:

I have tried many things and honestly, money has been the most successful!

June 8, 2008 at 3:44 PM  

Cute! I look forward to the summer adventures!

June 8, 2008 at 4:40 PM  

Good ideas. I am sure it's so hard to find things to keep them engaged and not drive you insane!

When is summer break over?
I swear summer is shorter than when I was school. I think we were out from mid May to August.

I'll keep my eyes and ears open for things the girls might enjoy :)

June 8, 2008 at 4:59 PM  

dang, I should probably do something with our mountain of clean laundry...

June 9, 2008 at 7:01 AM  

I really wish I had started some sort of "choring" schedule with my kids when they were young, instead of trying to prove I could do it all. I think your ideas are great.

June 9, 2008 at 8:30 AM  

Just Grace is a cute book. It also has a sequel- Still Just Grace. Reading is a great way to keep them busy. Happy Summer! :)

June 12, 2008 at 12:32 AM  

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