Morning Thoughts

You know the morning didn’t go well when two of your children leave to school with tear stained faces.

These are my thoughts. How do I cope with the kids when:

• I make a real effort to have scriptures and prayers with them each morning, and then they laugh, talk, and make faces at each other during the whole thing?
• They don’t clean their rooms or brush their teeth each morning?
• They yell at me because I yell at them?
• They have already tried to veto the summer schedule I created and discussed with them?

Other questions?

What’s a good incentive each day that’s healthy and productive, which they’ll like?

What IS something the boys do consistently each day that they like and I could use to my benefit (since TV, video games, dessert, having friends over isn’t a daily thing)? They read (that's their escape from jobs or a nagging mother). So, how do I enforce a no reading rule, when our home is full of books?

How do I stay focused and unphased when my “teammates” are consistently dropping the ball all around me?

A family is unique in that you can’t fire them or kick them off the team. If you had an employee or a member of a sports team not “step up,” you could choose not to work with them. Not so here. We’re stuck with each other.

So, I find many balls dropped, jobs left undone, and a lack of cooperation. How can I rally my teammates effectively?

The boys don't want a schedule during the summer. But, if we don’t follow some sort of a schedule, how will we get anything done? Maybe I could discuss the whole contract idea again. What’s the purpose of a contract? It’s a two-way agreement. I promise things and they promise things in return.

Things I care most about happening each day?

Having a good feeling in the home
Scripture study
Piano
Clean up- bedrooms and power clean up
Spanish
Reading/Math

I want all of these things to happen without being a nag or yelling! Is that possible?