in a happy nest

As I stood at the kitchen island cutting swiss chard, I glanced over at my most recent favorite thing. I will admit that the swiss chard has nothing to do with the story. I just wanted you to be impressed. Believe me when I tell you that 24-hours ago I did not even know what swiss chard was. (Do you think it is jealous of carrots, squash and potatoes for their inclusion in everyday life?) While under the spell of my sugar high (see yesterday's post), I decided that yes, of course I could make the recipe that the grocery store was sampling.

Whoops! Back to my favorite thing. As I stood at the chard, blah, blah, blah, I glanced over at the chore rings that were my crafty way of telling our children that the free ride is over. It was a rare project that involved all of my favorite things: crafting, organizing, cleaning and oddly enough, laminating. The only materials were cardstock, a sharpie, random sticker letters from my craft room, metal rings and the laminating machine at Kinkos. Each child has their own and each morning I put 4-5 chores on each ring from the stack of 25 chores. Some of the chores are activities like Brownies, Boy Scouts and choir so I can count that as less time for chores. Included in the 4-5 chores everyday are make bed and tidy room. I also added some other activities like "Give Owen a compliment", "Read to William" and "Snuggle Mom."

Why did I not think of this sooner? We have tried charts and stickers, I have tried talking in my Mary Poppins accent, but there is something about the chore ring. It has some mystical power that we are not questioning. I no longer clean the bunny's cage, I no longer put their folded laundry away. But my favorite chore of all is the one that makes my 4-year old giggle to no end: re-fill the toilet paper rolls. I mean, its just so stinkin' funny (pun intended.)