Crack Down

So much can happen over the course of 48 hours!  The buggy boys have been hit with round 2 of the stomach bug that is still going around and Ethan stayed home from school yesterday after throwing up 4 times in the middle of the night.  Lover Boy, meanwhile, has been experiencing explosions coming out of both ends and as a result I have washed ALL of his bedding {meaning his pillow, pillow case, crib sheet, and all 4 or 5 of the blankets he insists on covering up with every night} at least 3 or 4 times in the past two days.  Thankfully, Alex only threw up once, but still.  Diarrhea is neither fun to say nor to clean up.  Hahaha.

Because of all the sickness, Grace has been praying extra hard that everyone is better in time for Easter so that we can still go over to the cousins.  I'm praying for health AND cooperation from all of the kids so that we can get this disaster area cleaned up and fumigated before we leave.  I mentioned in the last post that some tweaks are being made to our Family Economy system.  Unfortunately, the crack down on chores we were hoping to effect this week has been weakened thanks to the upcoming holiday {and the sick kids}.  However, once we get BACK from Kristin's, our new system will be up and running FULL FORCE.  Haha.

After Scott and I held an impromptu "monitor and adjust" meeting last week, we decided that Tweak #1 was to eliminate the Kitchen from the zone round-up of chores.  It is easily the most difficult chore on any given week and gets messed up so quickly that no one ever wants to clean it.  So they don't.  Which is frustrating and annoying.  Not to mention, one more thing on OUR list that needs to get done so that we don't live in TOTAL filth and squalor.  We replaced the Kitchen with the Front and Back Halls and decided that Tweak #2 would be to split up the kitchen into smaller, more manageable tasks and use them for the kids' assignments each week instead.

So, for this week, the Zones and Assignments are as follows:

Ethan: TV Room (zone) and Unloading the Dishwasher (assignment)

Grace: Family Room and Taking out the Garbage

Sophie: Front and Back Halls and Clearing off the Kitchen Counters

Jane: Clearing off the Kitchen Table (she doesn't have a zone yet, just an assignment)

For a quick refresher, our basic system is that they have 4 boxes to check off each day -- Morning Routine; Zone; Assignment; and Bedtime Routine -- and in order to earn full allowance each week they must get at least 18 boxes checked off.  I think we've said that 15-17 checks will earn half allowance, but part of the problem in our system these days is that we've been REALLY terrible and lazy about actually having pay day each Saturday and settling up everyone's accounts.  As a result, I think the kids are even lazier about actually doing any chores because they're not seeing the immediate results of their actions.

Anyway, we've told the kids about the above changes to the system and they're all pretty excited to get rid of the Kitchen for a zone.  The final tweak that we haven't mentioned to them yet is that we are considering upping the ante for amount of allowance earned each week.  As of right now, full allowance is a flat-rate of $5.00 with the opportunity to earn $2 extra if they get all 20 points for the week plus the 2 make-up points they're allowed to earn by memorizing 2 scriptures.  Since part of our Family Economy is the expectation that they are on their own to pay for everything themselves {treats, toys, outings, even clothes (although they've negotiated with us on that one to pay for half)}, we figured that allowing them the opportunity to earn even more will provide a little extra incentive.  Although it will come with a steeper price.  The idea is to change "Full Allowance" each week to be their age in dollars with the point scale adjusted slightly to make them have to work for it a little bit more.  To earn full allowance they'll now need at least 19 points and for half allowance they'll need at least 16.  Like I said, though, we haven't put this into effect yet and I think we'll kind of wait and see how the chore changes settle in before meddling with anything else.  But who knows?  We might scrap that whole idea entirely if it doesn't have the effect we are hoping for.  I'm telling you -- figuring out how to raise responsible, respectful, and respectable children is a LOT harder than it looks.  And it doesn't look easy!  Hahaha.

To end for the day, I'll leave you with a short email response I received from Grace's teacher today after letting her know that Grace will be absent tomorrow.  I can't say enough how grateful I am that she has a teacher who thinks she's a hoot rather than a handful.  Because we ALL know Grace can easily swing that way!  Here is what she had to say after telling her Grace will be gone:

ok.... ;-( but i understand....she came up to me one day last week and just stood there smiling at me, and I looked at her and said, "What?" and she said, "You really do need to get to know me....."and then walked away.........
I love the fact that she writes me notes in her planbook every day ...she is a HOOT!! 
Have a great weekend, and be safe, I will miss my girl!!!

And that is what we call a tender mercy.  And one that has been repeated almost EVERY year since Grace has started school.  We really have been so blessed.  Can you imagine the trouble we would have getting her to school each day if she DIDN'T have teachers like that???  I don't even want to think about it!

In closing, I may or may not have a special Flashback Friday for tomorrow.  It all depends on whether or not I'm brave enough to post about something that reaches to the core of my self-consciousness.  We shall see.  We shall see. {And if that doesn't whet your appetite to know more, than I don't know what will!}  Stay tuned?  Hahaha.