Going Manic Over Lists

This is my master chore list.

I think I've gone over the cliff of sanity.  I succumbed to the need for creating lists.  Everyone's doing it.  'Tis the season for creating lists due to the new school year.  I might as well have created mine, too. 

It's not like I created anything beyond the chore list.  I've been consumed with perfecting my chore lists for each child.  I've had so much fun creating the chores lists. Not!!!  I had created some before, but they weren't working.  

Some background is necessary for clarification.

You see, each kid had a list to draw from.  It was driving me crazy that some of them would mark theirs up with their dry erase markers.  There were others who did not have a single mark at all on their chore charts.  According to my standards, my house was a mess.  Simple things weren't getting done.

That's why I discussed the subject of chores with them after dinner last week.  I informed my kids about my plans.  I would reward them with something they would like to work towards.  Can you guess what they came up with?  You guessed it: technological games, for the most part.

Oldest son's chore chart is full as are the others.

I was armed with the rewards.  I decided to sign under each day they accomplished the goals.  I experienced a great hope that my house would get cleaned.  I indeed wrote up the chore lists and posted them on the wall.  I took a nap in the afternoon, after having stayed up all last night.  

Then, I woke up to...

a clean house.

It worked.  My insatiable need to create the chore lists paid off.  I signed Monday's chores.  

I pray this will show my kids that I'll be checking their progress.  I hope it will also keep me accountable to them, too.  

Chores are a fact of life.

The children will be accumulating a monetary amount until they earn enough to buy their desired reward.  I have let them know that we parents will not always reward them for their chores.  I am merely giving them a jump start into them doing their chores.  I wanted to give them some motivation. I have tempered this with the reality that we parents don't get paid for doing our chores. 

Creating my chore lists were a lot of work for me.  I'll mention in another blog how I went about creating them. For now, I will admit that I must continue with the list mania.  I need to create other lists for our family.  My plan is for the following areas:

1. Food pantry

2. Non-food pantry

3. Freezer/fridge

4. Office supplies

5. Homeschooling material

When I get around to creating some of these new lists, I will share them here in the blog.  For now, thanks so much for reading this entry.  My mania over lists is, oddly enough, to keep me from going insane.  Stay tuned to see if I don't really go crazy!

How about you, my readers?  Have you struggled with organizing yourselves and your family?  Have you struggled with assigning chores?  Or have you mastered chore management?  I encourage you to consider bite-size changes in your life, gradually accumulating the better habits in your life.  If you need to improve your mental health, ask God to help you organize your life.  God is sure to help you, if you pray for His guidance.

This is an entry for Medical Mondays.  For past entries, click here.