Nesting

I am an organised person by nature. I just like order and predictability. And when we are preparing to bring another child into the family my need to organize goes into hyper drive. It happened with all three of my natural born kiddos. It has happened every time we got ready to leave the country to bring Jacob and Ty home. And now, even though we have more than one trip before bringing our son home, I just can't satiate my need to overhaul our "system".

I have been trying to get our kids more involved in the day-to-day processes around our home. I believe they need to learn life skills, they need to learn to serve others, and they need to learn to be responsible. But, as I have also mentioned before, I have a really hard time letting go of the tasks I want them to learn. I can do it faster. I can do it better. And I can save a lot of eye rolling, exasperated sighs and grunts, and arguments about who's turn it is to do what by just doing it myself.

It is hard to watch someone load the dishwasher inefficiently and end up with dishes left in the sink. It is hard to leave water spots on the mirrors in the bathrooms because little hands are only so coordinated and little eyes don't catch the details that I see. It is hard to see the lines in the carpet where a little person tried to vacuum the whole room but missed a few spots. It's hard to find remnants of trash left on the floor around the trash cans that were just emptied by someone who didn't bother to check if anything fell out when they emptied. And the hardest part for me is to leave all of those details unmentioned in the moment to praise the effort given and make a mental note to instruct again net time before the task.

I know, it's a sickness. I know, I need to let go. But this is my weakness (one of many). Brad is so much better at all of this than I am. But daddy working so many extra hours means mama is the one helping littles each weekday and weekends to learn these tasks.

So, in an effort to quiet my own anxieties and still keep the kids involved, I have added a few new systems. And I am so excited to see they are actually working!

First was a new laundry system. Originally I liked the idea of the older kiddos doing their own laundry and the littles just helping mom. Let's just say this was a complete fail. No need for details.

So here's the new arrangement: One child is designated each week as a "laundry helper" and another child is designated as "laundry folder." For 7 days those kids accompany mom in the laundry room whenever I happen to be in there. It's not up to them when it happens, it is just one of their chores for the week. I guide and direct the helper in how to wash the clothes and instruct (and help the littlest of folders) on how to fold and separate the laundry. Then the folded laundry is placed into each family member's basket for put away. Each night after baths and showers the kids put their own clothes away and return the empty baskets to the laundry room.

It has been 3 weeks so far. And it's working! No more digging through 4 loads of clean laundry that hasn't been put away yet to try and find one family member a pair of socks. No more complaints about putting away laundry or about having to help with clothing items that "aren't mine". And all of the kids are finally consistently involved in a daily life skill! We'll see how much longer this system stays in place. But for now, it is brilliant.

Next was a new way of assigning weekly chores and tracking some of the highly coveted responsibilities for family night: I cut up a plastic cutting board to make durable little tags to hang in the kids' lockers. Each of the kids are responsible for two daily tasks, one family night assignment, and one Saturday chore. The chores all get rotated Monday night after bed.

Another success! I have been shocked to see how excited the kids are about these chores. They tease each other about the less-desirable (like picking up the dog poop) and eagerly anticipate some of the others (like doing the dishes, who knew they would ALL love this?). It has only been three weeks but I cannot believe how happy they all have been to do their chores. It wont last. It can't...

Last and most recent has been an overhaul of our school lunches. I was so tired of blowing through 4 paper lunch sacks and 16 ziploc bags every single day. I had been worried about the kids loosing lunch boxes and containers if I sent them to school. But after 6 months of paper bags and all of the trash inside coming home every day I realized how much waste we were creating and that the kids really could bring everything back consistently since I had never asked for all of their trash back yet it managed to arrive every day for 6 months. And on top of that our menu seemed to be on constant repeat. I wasn't even eating the lunches and I was tired of the food.

So, the new plan: I compiled a list of lunch ideas to last 4 weeks. I have never sent hot lunches before, even though I have wanted to, so I decided now was the time to try. For me planning ahead so I don't have to think about anything in the moment is the key. So I created a meal plan for the month so I can grocery shop ahead of time and just make whatever is on the list that day rather than trying to convince my tired brain to be creative at 6:45 am.

We are running out of cupboard space so the rolling cart was a must. It sits next to the refrigerator until I need it.

Dip cups and utensils.

Cold lunch containers.

Hot lunch containers. And lunch pails on the bottom.

The new lunch system has only been in place for 2 weeks but everyone is so happy. School lunches are exciting again!

The last overhaul project left on my list is the garage. But with daddy working so many hours I don't know that it will get done before the final trip. I have designed a tool corral for Brad's tools and trailer, shelving for toys and sporting equipment, bike racks (this is my favorite and most coveted item, I'm so tired of crawling over bikes to get anywhere in the garage), and a re-organized play space for the big kids. We promised the kids this extra space back in December before Amber's birthday. But we've had to save for the materials and dad needs more than a one-hour break from work to start this project. Poor Brad, he never gets a break.

I'm excited about all my little projects and new systems. Let's see how long the kids' enthusiasm will last this time...