My Anti-Procrastination Resolution:

That is not my cat or my kitchen. This is the photo in the ad for a $10 crafting opportunity I jumped at.

I've done some reflecting and know that I am often challenged with putting things off for a later date. You know that poem by Dennis Waitley called Someday Isle? Well, I often find myself falling into the someday I'll trap and those things I said I'd do end up getting pushed to the side. Can you relate to this in any areas in your own life?

Ok, so I'll admit I'm not what I wouldn't call myself an all-around procrastinator. In other words, I don't procrastinate in every area in my life. But there are specific areas that come to mind. One painfully obvious one is folding clean laundry. Today, my mom offered to help fold clothes for me. She asked if there was a basket that she could put them in once they were folded. My response, "All the baskets are occupied...with clean clothes." I KNOW I'm not the only one who can't stand putting clean clothes away.

I am seriously open to any ideas that you may have found that works to help stay on top of this stuff. PLEASE leave a comment below with your ideas. This morning I finally downloaded the Fly Lady app on my phone. According to my mom, one of my sisters, and a couple of friends. This lady apparently is supposed to offer me the answer to ALL of my homemaking maintenance problems. I'll give it a shot and see how it goes. Oh, the girls have to put their own clothes away, so that's one portion of the equation that is someone else's responsibility. Plus, recently, Brynn (both girls are 5 years old), has been spotted leaning head first into the washing machine, pulling clothes out, and throwing them into the dryer! I was ecstatic!! She was trying to help lighten my load and I acknowledged her efforts, encouraged her, and helped her complete the task.

Another area I struggle with, but am mostly cured of, (I diagnosed myself) is thinking I'm more creative when it comes to crafts than I really am. Ha!! Just a few weeks ago I was telling a friend who's amazing at refinishing furniture that I bought a $10 piece that I'll need her accountability and guidance to do something with. I also gave her some of my crafting history- I've been known to buy crafting materials in the past that never get used. Well, at least not for their intended purpose. That $10 piece was the first crafting idea I paid into in quite a while and it still looks just like it did when I made the purchase.

More recently, as our twins have gotten older, I find myself looking for the 'perfect' solution to our need for a chore/responsibility chart that works. When they were smaller the wooden Melissa and Doug met that need. But it seemed like they just became disinterested in it over time. The little multi-colored magnets with smiley faces with "You're Amazing", "Great Job", and other motivational sayings on them just appeared to have lost their effectiveness, until a couple of months ago when Piper began asking when we'd start using the chart again. I believe children really do desire structure and responsibility. I also believe that, as parents we must provide our children with them. The challenge I face is how to make it happen in a way that is fun and interesting for them. I'm probably over thinking it. Ok, I AM over thinking it. I realize now that the most important thing is to do something; anything.
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It was Piper's question that pushed me to finally do something! I dug out a couple of pieces of laminating paper, pulled out the list of tasks the girls need to accomplish before school that Brynn took the initiative to draw up on poster board, and got to work. I have a few more things I need to do to finalize the chart, but at least now they have a start point. Not perfect, but at least I DID something! I'm on the road to recovering from my procrastination habit! Woot, woot!!!

Getting started with the school day Morning Routine chart.

Heres something I'm pretty proud of! Some of you might be thinking, I draw up these types of responsibility charts in my sleep or even blindfolded with BOTH arms tied behind my back! Well, we aren't all that talented, so bear with me as I celebrate my efforts. I decided we needed some sort of structure while the girls were out of school on Christmas and New Year's vacation. The chart above is what I came up with. It wasn't perfect and we didn't follow it perfectly, but we used it AND the girls enjoyed placing their stickers over the chores/responsibilities they completed and I enjoyed knowing that it was working!

The only thing, I hadn't figured out is if their efforts should be rewarded somehow or not. Then, yesterday I had an idea! Tally up their individual stickers and those would equate to the number of Chuck E. Cheese tokens they both earned! It was an ingenious idea! I can't tell you the last time we'd gone to Chuck E. Cheese, so the girls were excited to go!

Chuck and the Girls!