Kids' Artwork

We had this nondescript corner in our living room that puzzled me for quite awhile. What should go there? Then I got the idea that the kids could fill that up pretty nicely (and inexpensively) with their artwork. As an added bonus, we could count their painting time as school.

I chose a range of colors and then told them I wanted something “beachy”. Or tropical. It was really great to see how they each interpreted those directions, some with surfboards and others with palm trees. Sweet three-year-old just wielded the brush and had a ball.

Home OrganizationKendraFebruary 26, 2007Comment

The Church Basket

We needed to restock a basket or box that stays in our van and equips us for when we are on the road. We aren't on the road very often, so we call ours the Church Basket because it supplies anything we might need for church.

I emailed all the women in our church (plus a few others) and asked them what they would want to have at the ready. The responses and lists were great:

-safety pin

-small fingernail clippers

-chapstick

-piece of wool to tie bra straps together in the back -lozenges

-paper towels

-baby wipes

-bib

-Hydrocortisone and Neosporin -Band-Aids -3-d puzzles -Jonathan Park-type book on tape or classical kids music -extra change of clothes and underwear/socks for those who need it -extra sweater or throw blanket -protein snacks if breakfast is too light/ 6oz water bottles(they are really cute and easy to hold for little hands) -Advil or Tylenol in chewable and swallowable varieties -sermon notebooks -snack bars -pens -crayons -paper -worship CD's -notecards (good to write a name on after the service if someone needed some encouragement--then you finish it later, but it saves having to "think" later in the week--also handy if you forgot someone and realize on the way to church "yikes!" I forgot a birthday or a word of thanks) -plastic cups with lids and straws -quick microwaveable mac -n -cheese packets for impromptu drop in visits at friends' houses while in town -disposable camera -stick-on-table placemats -plastic grocery bags -tiny first aid kit with breakable ice -phone book -baggies of different sizes for wet clothes & distributing snacks -gum or mints -hand sanitizer -sunscreen (in season) -ointments (soothes sand burns on beach trips) -portable foldable potty seat cover -plastic silverware -2 picnic blankets (I love having a Neat Sheet in the van) -potty seat and toilet paper -a mini football -2 Frisbees -little wisk/hand brooms- the kind with straw like bristles. Our van is crummy! Even hit the bottom of the kids shoes to keep some of the sand and mud from grinding in.

Home OrganizationKendraFebruary 5, 2007Comment

Don't Be Discouraged!

Recently a friend and I were chatting about when we were first exposed to well-managed, godly large families. For me, it was 1993 and I had just one baby boy. I was listening to a tape by a homeschooling mother of eight and could hardly believe what I was hearing. This mother was organized, efficient, and joyful.

In 1995 I met a friend who at the time was expecting her fifth. I remember the first time I had lunch at her home. The children liked each other, there was a joyful and relaxed atmosphere, and they actually helped without complaint. I remember driving away thinking, "I want a family like that."

I learned a lot from these women and others God graciously brought into my life. But I have learned something more by living this life of managing a large homeschooling family: jobs don't always get done the way I want them to.

Did you catch that? Because I think it's important that those of you who are just starting to walk this path understand what I didn't: often children don't do a job the way or to the standard at which I would. Or you would.

So when you read that my 13-year-old is cleaning the kitchen or that my 11-year-old is winterizing the kitchen garden, realize that they aren't doing it perfectly. They are still learning, still developing skills, still needing mom and dad to check their work and sometimes still needing to go back and re-do the job entirely.

Don't let it frustrate you. Your job is as trainer, and although I highly, highly value the help my children give me, I still need to mop floors, clean toilets, and iron. If my standard was child-sized, I probably wouldn't have to do those things. But my goal is to raise adults, not children.

Home Organization, Life with Preschoolers, Nurturing MomsKendraJanuary 17, 2007Comment

The Girls' Room (and ending squabbles)

I love lists. I love them because they get my thinking out onto paper so that I don't have to think anymore and I love them because they communicate what needs doing.

Two sisters here were having battles every time they needed to pick up their room. One claimed she'd done the job while the other claimed she hadn't and so forth. I was at the point of exasperation. This was a situation just crying out for a list! We posted the list last week and magically, 90% of the conflict just disappeared. Both girls know what is expected of them and neither can claim they did their part if the evidence is to the contrary.

GIRLS’ BEDROOM CLEAN UP

7-year-old

Make both beds

Tidy dressers

Fold clean clothes and put them away

Tidy bathroom

5-year-old

Put books away

Put dirty clothes in the laundry

Put toys away

Pick up trash and throw it away

What needs a list in your home?

Chores, Home Organization, Life with Preschoolers, Resources, Training Little OnesKendraNovember 22, 2006Comment

Pink and Blue

My seven-year-old and five-year-old wear the same size. Gone are the days of passing clothes down, except to little sister who will receive two of everything.

This fall I decided to do something I'd never done before: color code them. Biggest sister has the majority of her clothes in blue and middle sister is mostly pink. The hours of laundry sorting this has saved me- I can't begin to tell you!

Home Organization, Life with PreschoolersKendraNovember 6, 2006Comment

Laundry

Laundry- ugh! If you've been reading Preschoolers and Peace for any length of time, you'll know that back in February or so I revamped our laundry system because of my pregnancy then. I miscarried, life was thrown into a bit of a tailspin, and long story short, the laundry system failed.

This week I was searching for a new approach. There were several things I liked about how I was accomplishing laundry so I decided to keep those elements:

- I love the actual washing and drying. It's the easy part- load the machine, turn the right knobs, and voila! It's done. Transferring to the dryer is no biggie, either. Plus, I can rest assured that no one is putting a red sweatshirt into the bleach load (or handling the bleach in the first place).

-I love having a basket for each child or bedroom on the laundry room counter. Eliminates unnecessary trips of dirty laundry from bedrooms to laundry room and clean laundry from laundry room to bedroom. See photo below.

But I HATE to fold. I hate to fold for a household of eight, soon to be nine, even more.

So duh! Why was I standing there folding everyone's laundry and placing it in their baskets? They are all perfectly capable of doing the job themselves, even the two-year-old with help I will gladly offer.

Henceforth, when I grab our current read-aloud, they will all retrieve their laundry baskets and fold, with the following guidelines clearly outlined and posted:

FLETCHER LAUNDRY

Our motto: WE LOVE LAUNDRY!

(OK, not really…)

1. Fold whatever is not folded in your basket

2. Put undies and jammies in the correct places in your bedrooms:

Boys- in your drawers

Girls- in your shelf baskets

3. Put socks away where they belong:

Boys- in the laundry room drawer and basket

Girls- in the laundry room drawer

4. Put items that need to be ironed neatly on the ironing board

5. Hang towels in your bathroom

6. Put sheets away on your closet shelves or directly onto your beds

7. What’s left in your basket? Make sure what’s left is supposed to be there!

Chores, Home OrganizationKendraOctober 30, 2006Comment

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