Last week (not last night) on Jon & Kate Plus Eight, the Gosselins were talking about chores. Kate said that soon she was going to assign chores to each child, but she wasn't sure how.
I have the perfect plan for her! I set out to e-mail and tell them ('cause I really do think she'd like this suggestion--it's what I'd do if I had three or more children...and I'm the kate-est of Kates). I know they said on another episode that they read emails (Well, that Jon read e-mails and shared the good ones with Kate. THIS would def be a good one.) so I figured that the address must be on the TLC website. If it is, I can't find it. So, I'm posting it here. (I'm sure they're lurking.) If you have their address, let me know or tell them to stop by the blog.
Sadly, I can't claim to be the originator of this idea. My sister's neighbor is the inspiration. I haven't met the neighbor or her children (aged, I'd guess, 7-10 at the time). But, when we were taking care of their animals one Christmas, I saw this little gem: Clipboards. Choreboards.
Hanging in a row were three hooks, one for each child. Each hook had a child's name above it and a clipboard hanging on it. On each clipboard were a list of jobs. These must have been jobs for the week. Each clipboard had different jobs on it (empty upstairs trash, empty downstairs trash, take out trash to curb). I'm sure that each week the clipboards rotated so that you had different jobs. Isn't that great?
The Gosselins also came up with a mission statement for their family. This was great. It reminded me of teaching in a Christian school. I had one rule--that you had to be loving. (This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. John 15:12) Then, on a huge bulletin board that took up a whole wall in our classroom I had the love verse from Corinthians (Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 1 Cor. 13:4-5) Then, the only reminder that class needed was for me to ask, "Are you being kind?" or "Are you being patient?" In our Friday letters we would reflect on the week--what we learned, what we liked, how we would improve and, sometimes, how we were being loving (or not self-seeking or not boasting...). It was such a simple and such an all-encompassing reminder.
So, Jon and Kate, this post is for you!
13 May 2008
for the Gosselins
7 comments:
I like the clipboard idea. I think it requires that each job be described to a T. I've found that "set the table" can be interpreted (really) as putting out placemats. And "clean the living room" can result in the rug being vacuumed.
I like posting the verse idea.
Often when my kids are bickering (and etc.) I start singing the song: "be happy, be kind, be loving, be true..." quietly. Usually, they just roll their eyes, but often it works! :)
I'm so very tired. Could you come organize that in my household for me?
Sounds like a good one!
info@sixgosselins.com
http://www.sixgosselins.com/Contact_us.html
Huge fan of the show
Post has been copied and sent. Thanks, Lauri!
Excellent, love it! They really should have posted their email. I think they would have like this a lot. I will use this sometime in the future:).
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