Wednesday, July 31, 2013

My quest for consistency...the saga continues

Me (at 6:50 am): Ok, time to get ready to go.
Her: (still staring at the tv)
Me (6:55 am): Let's go, I don't want to get stuck in all that traffic.
Her: Where's my blue karate shirt? I gotta brush my teeth. I don't wanna wear these shoes.

Ok, this isn't what I want, so to get a head start on the upcoming school year, I decided to give an old friend another try. Months ago, Hummingbird and I made a to do list door hanger. It was cute and all but I've learned that if there is no consistency, cute eventually wears off. You've heard me talk about being consistent, using this time before school starts back, gives me the opportunity to practice.

I want her to be a bit more task oriented (Oh, no, am I feeding a mini me, future A type personality?). She's going into the 2nd grade, so there are things I should no longer have to keep repeating. Ok, I gotta laugh at myself with that one. Yogli is 17 and I am still repeating things to him. Anyway, so I decided to remake the to do list door hanger.

My quest for consistency is in combination with Pinterest. **Side not here: Pinterest gets a bad rap sometimes because people get so caught up not being able to make the Pin exactly like the person who pinned it. Why not tweak it for yourself and Pin your version? Ok, back to the Pin at hand.

Here's the Pin I am gonna nail:

 photo nailedit_comparison_zps273a577e.png

We started with a foam sign from Dollar Tree (this place is awesome for simple crafts). They usually carry the foam door hangers but after visiting 3 different locations and not finding any, I settled for a regular foam sign. I attached a piece of ribbon at the top so that it could hang from a door, a door that's frequently used so that you're always seeing it. Cause you know, out of sight, out of mind. I used things I already had on hand:

  • Deco color paint markers (Hobby Lobby)
  • clothes pins (Dollar Tree)
  • Black Sharpie, fine point
  • glitter glue (Dollar Tree)
  • stickers, embellishments (Wal-Mart)
Hummingbird helped me paint the clothes pins and make the list of her to-do's. Once the clothes pins dried, I took her list and wrote each to do on a clothes pin, indicating whether it's something for her to do in the morning (AM) or night (PM). I wrote each task on the front and back of the clothes pins so that either way you flip them, you see the task. Think we got one weekend thing on there, so we just indicated what day she would put away all of her own laundry (that is one thing I am soooo tired of....laundry.). Ok, back to the pin at hand...

Next, I decorated the foam sign with stickers and embellishments I found in the $1 section of Wal-Mart, who knew? I used the glitter glue to draw a line down the middle of the sign (could have done a better job there but dealing with consistency here not so much beauty), distinguishing between tasks that need to be done versus those that have been done.


Here's our version in pics:

 photo myversion_zps414b817b.png

Once Hummingbird completes a task from the "to do"side, she will move the task (clothes pin) to the "done" side. After she's in bed, I will move everything back over to the "to do" side.














Think that's gonna work for us. My consistency with Yogli and Hummingbird is dependent upon me being more action oriented with less talking (as in barking out orders and nagging). You know what that sounds like, right? "I'm only gonna tell you one more time..." "If you don't go brush your teeth then I'm gonna..."

You know this story is not over, to be continued...

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2 comments:

  1. You are right, in the 2nd grade you shouldn't have to keep repeating. I have a 13 yo and I'm still repeating, lol. It's a learned skill that ability to tune mom out and then to become upset when we tune them out. LOL Loved the DIY craft. I should have my 13 YO create that same door hanger with clips and all.

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    1. Thanks, Jaha! They somehow want everything their way. It was a lot of fun making the craft with my daughter, hopefully, it will make a difference this school year.

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