Independence

For those of you who know me well, you know that I am one of those moms who does everything for their child. I help Gavin get dressed. I make his bed. I brush his teeth. I take off his coat and shoes etc. Basically whatever he needs, I do it. Well, I did do it until I realized I can't possibly do all that for two children and keep my sanity. Before Charlotte came, I never minded doing all of those things. I was a SAHM with only one child! What else did I have to do with all my time? Well, all of that is quickly changing. I made this chore chart awhile ago ( I may have even posted about it) but we never stuck to it. This time, we have been going strong for a few weeks. I made this massive daily schedule for me and the kids and our lives have become much simpler and much more peaceful because of it. Here is a picture of Gavin putting his smiley face next to his completed chores!

We have started out small. There are two columns on his chart. One for a.m. chores and one for p.m. chores. His a.m. chores consist of getting himself dressed, making his bed, brushing his teeth and going over his Bible verse of the week. His p.m. chores are setting the table, brushing his teeth, picking up all his toys (he's pretty much always done this, though), and going over his Bible verse again. He gets to put a smiley face next to each chore as he completes them (and a sad face if he doesn't) and then he gets a quarter for his piggy bank! He loves it. He is saving up for a "cool toy". He still needs my help a little bit, but slowly I am making him into an independent boy!