Posts Tagged ‘win’

It’s approaching too fast!! The end of summer and the beginning of…the school year!  Although there have been a few days this summer where I longed for the routine of the school  year, overall I am still dreading it a little bit.  I will be the first one to admit that I’m not the most organized of people…shocker right?!  I’ve always described my mind like a big bulletin board with sticky notes everywhere and piles of paper pinned up and falling off – I know where everything is and what needs to be done but sometimes it gets lost in the mess.  This year my goal is to become a bit more organized though, as I’ve heard it can do wonders for your sanity.

If you caught the WOWT midday news today, Behaven Kids founder, Janie Peterson gave some great tips for getting ready for the school year.  One of the best (in my opinion) is practicing the morning and night routines ahead of time.  In the past, I have wanted to stay on the summer schedule as long as possible and then Reece just got thrust into school schedule at the last possible moment.  He’s always done okay with it but it’s probably put a little undue stress on him.

Earlier this year, I wrote about the morning schedule that I had Reece on and I think we will implement it again this school year; we will just start it a little earlier.  With him going to a summer program this summer – we sort of kept the routine but it wasn’t as strict as during the school year.  Here is the sample of what will be on his morning list:

1)      Put dirty pajamas in hamper

2)      Take a shower (wash body & hair)

3)      Put on clothes (socks, underwear, shorts, shirt, & shoes)

4)       Eat breakfast

5)      Put dirty dishes in sink

6)      Brush teeth

When he is done with his list – he will be able to watch some Netflix or play with his toys until it is time to leave for school.  It’s the same exact list as we did last school year, so hopefully with some practice he will fall right back into it.

I will be implementing the same type of list for bedtime – here is our sample:

1)      Put back pack by door

2)      Pick out clothes for tomorrow morning

3)      Put dirty clothes in hamper.

4)      Put on pajamas

5)      Eat vitamins

6)      Brush teeth

7)      Read The Sleep Fairy

I’m adding two additional steps to his nighttime routine this year – the backpack by the door and the clothing for the next morning.  When I thought back on the last year, those seemed to be the biggest things that tripped us up – we couldn’t find his backpack or we would realize he didn’t have matching socks, couldn’t find his shoes, etc!

I think I will implement these routines about a week before school starts (I’m going to let him have a little more summer fun) but I will be moving his bedtime back within the next week or so.  Last school year Reece was in bed at 7:30 p.m. and woke up at 7 a.m.  I plan on keeping the same schedule this year.  I don’t think I will have him go to bed at 7:30 yet but I will move it back by 10 minutes or so each couple of days, getting to 7:30 the week before school.

Do you have any suggestions for my routines? Am I asking for him to do too much on his own? Or having him do too little? (Should I make him vacuum in the morning too?) =)

And as always, it’s Win it Wednesday  and I’m giving something away!  This week one of you lucky readers will receive a gift card to Target to help with your Back to School list!  All you need to do is tell me  (below or on the Win it Wednesday status update on Facebook) how old your child is and their bedtime (if you don’t have a child – just tell me I’m pretty!) =)

And those wonderful EXTRA entries (for those of you who really want to win!)

-Like us on Faceboook (leave a comment that you did!)

-Share our “Win it Wednesday” post via Facebook (leave a comment below that you shared)

-Refer a friend to “like” us on Facebook (have them tag you on Facebook via a wall post)

-Follow us on Twitter (leave a comment below with your username)

-Re-Tweet about the contest (leave a comment below with a link to your tweet)

-Follow us on Pinterest (leave comment below with your username)

-Re-Pin this post (leave a comment below with a link to your pin)

-Leave a comment on another blog post (leave a comment with which post you commented on)

Contest ends 7/26/12 at 11:59 p.m. CST!

Congrats to our winner Mary C.!

Lately, I’ve noticed many kids not respecting the things that their parents have purchased for them (my kids included).  A new bike gets left out in the rain, a new movie gets scratched, and a new stuffed animal is covered in sticky gunk days after purchasing.  So how do we teach our kids to respect their things?  The last thing that we want is for them to grow up and never learn the value of keeping their things nice.  There are several options obviously but what has really worked with Reece is having him spend his own money on things he really wants, I have noticed that he is much more careful with those items.  He’s less likely to leave them at a friend’s house or outside to weather the elements.

When I was growing up, I don’t remember ever getting an allowance, at least not one that was just given to me for no reason.  When I was Reece’s age – I got $2 a week if I completed all my designated chores.  I could spend that money for TV time (I always spent some of it to watch Full House – I was in loooove with Jesse!), save it, or spend it on something when we went shopping.  My parents also gave me an opportunity to earn more money for doing extra chores.  I don’t really remember ever spending that money weekly except to watch Full House, I think I was born frugal – I loved seeing my piggy bank get full!  The first big purchase that I remember making was when I was 10, I really wanted a mail order Princess Jasmine costume but it was $32 (which even now I think is expensive for a costume, let alone 16+ years ago).  My parents told me that I could have it but I’d have to pay for half of it myself –which I did, and I wore it for several Halloweens after.   I knew how hard I worked to save that money, so I treated the item with respect.  The same goes for the Doc Martens I bought a few years later – my parents thought $110 was a ridiculous amount to spend on a pair of shoes, so they refused to buy them for me.  I wanted them so bad that I bought them for myself and wore them for YEARS (honestly I think I only threw them away a few years ago) – I wanted to get my money’s worth!

Since getting an allowance worked out well for teaching me the value of money, I have been debating giving Reece one. Right now the money that he spends on the things he wants comes from work that he does for me or his grandparents or money that he’s saved from birthdays.  He seems to be grasping the concept of money well based on the statement he made to me the other day, “Mom, I just want to look at the toys, I don’t want you to buy me any.  I don’t want you to have to spend your money because then you’d have to work more to get more and then I wouldn’t get to see you as much.”  So he understands that the only way to get money is by working for it, so do I want to mess with that and start “giving” him an allowance each week (he’d have to complete his chores for it)?

Which brings me to our “Win it Wednesday” – for a chance to win this week, comment below and let me know your thoughts on allowances.  How old are your kids?  Do you give them allowances?  That’s the ONLY thing you have to do to win – if you want extra entries you can do the following (one extra entry for each thing done):

-Like us on Facebook (leave a comment below with your Facebook name)

-Comment on our “Win it Wednesday” post on Facebook (leave a comment below that you commented)

-Share our “Win it Wednesday” post via Facebook (leave a comment below that you shared)

-Refer a friend to “like” us on Facebook (have them tag you on Facebook via a wall post)

-Follow us on Twitter (leave a comment below with your username)

-Tweet about the contest (leave a comment below with a link to your tweet)

-Follow us on Pinterest (leave comment below with your username)

-Pin this post (leave a comment below with a link to your pin)

You can pick your prize this week from a Timmy Time Talking Timmy (ARV $25 - for those who have younger kids) or a Wilson Mini Football (ARV $20 – for those with older kids).  Both would make great additions to any Easter basket!

Giveaway will end March 29^th, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. Winner will be announced on our Facebook page on March 30^th, 2012.