Our Mornings Start With Crystal Light Containers

I took these awesome oval-shaped cylinders, slid the wrapper off and emptied the contents.
I found some simple images with the help of my friend Google and printed them out. Attached them to cardstock and mod podged all to tongue depressors. Now, we have a fabulous new summer morning routine in our house!

In the morning after watching one tv show just to wake up a little, tv goes off and the girls do "their sticks." Each stick has a chore: Make bed, get dressed and put away pjs, brush hair, brush teeth, and Mom's choice. Meaning I get to choose some chore in the morning that they do, no questions asked, no whining or complaining. i.e. wipe down table or kitchen counters after breakfast, brush the dog, clean the bathroom sink, put away toys, put away all shoes from the front room, etc.

The girls have their own jar with their own sticks with their own colors, to keep them separate. So far, it's working really well! There has been no whining and it becomes fun to pick a stick, do what it says, and put it in the 'done' container. I think they like that these can be done out of order too. Some mornings they may draw "brush hair" before "get dressed" and they just follow suit!

Oh, and our new summer thing with tv: after the one morning show, more shows must be earned. You can earn a show in our house by doing age-appropriate learning activities. Mikayla can read 2 short books, do 2 pages of a 1st grade workbook, write a letter to someone, do flashcards, work on her LeapFrog Tag, etc. Megan can do 2 puzzles, draw/color, read counting books with Mom, things like that. So far, this too is working really well!

If left up to my children, they would probably watch tv all day in their jammies. Now, we have a morning routine to get ready for the day and do productive activities to watch television. Love it!