a maker of lists

So, the boys are five and a half now. It's ridiculous. And it occurred to me the other day, that they are definitely not babies or toddlers anymore. Next year they are going to be in school. At preschool their teacher has them self-evaluate their work. They put a sticker next to the best letter they've drawn, so they can look at the others and see their mistakes for themselves.

So, I've been using the same basic principle with the boys and cleaning up their room. Usually I say, "go clean up their room" and they wander up there and start playing and then ask me to come help and keep playing and I start getting upset and telling them I am not their maid and so forth and so on. It's a pretty slippery slope. So, a couple of weeks ago I wrote them a list with pictures of what they were supposed to do. I gave them the list with a set of boxes for them to check off and a set for me to check off. It looked something like this:



Except I think the first one was in Crayola marker. Anyway, they did it. They went down the list and checked everything off. It was amazing. Then I came in and checked off the list, noting a stray sock or book they missed that was taken care of before I checked it of.

We've done this several times since then, and it has always resulted in a clean room. Sometimes they play for a while first. Sometimes they get right to it, but it gets done. And I don't scream. They've taken to drawing a reward for their work that they would like (usually Wii time) and I'm fine with that. I'm keeping the lists pretty simple for now, but I think I'll slowly start adding things like vacuuming or dusting. Anyway, I just thought I would share this small victory. Because it is exciting for me.

Oh and here is a picture Sam took of me and Charlotte. I really need to sit up straight.