I'm not sure what got me started on this but it is a mess around here. I'm organizing which means that I currently can't walk through my upstairs hallway without eating it. I recently read an article about being the ceo of your home. I am challenged by this as I am in the home all day, homeschooling, cleaning, disciplining, cooking, and drinking coffee. Oh and being Kurt's wife. I really desire before the Lord to answer to Him with excellence. I have some days where I am full of grace and things run smooth. I have other days where I choose to ignore my responsibilities and go to the ocean. Those days while fruitful in rest and all really tend to nix the peaceful flow of my home. I am really trying to rest in the rhythm of His leadership over my schedule and my day. So far I have been convicted of making meal plans and as of this week I am really working on systems that will train Israel in helping around the house. In order to do that I had to rearrange his room, create more efficient systems etc. I know that he can organize and clean up his toys. He is almost 6. When there is a system and place for everything it seems to go easier. Here are a few of Israel's choors. Kurt & I have decided against allowance. It is just a personal decision. We desire Izzy to have an attitude of serving others. We desire him to contribute to the home because he is part of our family. We desire him to be a helpful husband one day and to know how to serve his wife in areas of taking care of the home. Izzy can however do extra choors around the house to earn money. He then has jars to separate out his earnings. I really desire to teach him the importance of the fear of the Lord with is money. Often times children get an allowance or do choors to earn money without any thoughts except "what toy can I get for x quarters." I want Izzy to go deeper in his thoughts than a selfish approach to money. I want him to learn the following:
That money is enjoyable. With hard work we can buy things that we might enjoy. (his spending jar) That money is first to be given back to God. To remember the poor. That God promise that when we give with a cheerful heart God will give back to us in turn. (his tithe jar) That money can be saved for the future. (his savings jar) Anyhow just a brief tangent on money & five year olds. An example in our house of Israel earning money would be that yesterday he vacuumed the baseboards for about 20 minutes and earned 20 cents. That would be considered an additional chore that he can choose to do or not. Or the other day he helped me wash the car and earned $1. His usual chores we have recently established are making his bed, cleaning up his toys, emptying the dishwasher & bringing me the bathroom trash each week.
Here are some easy ways I changed Izzy & Aubrey's room to make it a training ground for Izzy to be self sufficient.
* I got plastic bins to go under his bed. All trains and tracks now go in them and no extra parts are to be left out.
* There are 5 baskets with different toys sorted in them. He can know which toys go in what basket and put them away.
* His clothes are now all in drawers. He can now get himself dressed rather than me having to pull a shirt off the high hanger. He also can put away his pj's and stuff.
* He has shoe cubbies now in his closet. Now he can easily put away his shoes and not have them lying around getting lost.
* He has a separate space for his markers & art supplies. Now when kids come over there are not as many toys out for grabs. It modifies the mess and allows me to have control over markers and such with friends.
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