SHOW RESPECT
Flashback Friday
Summer Hours of Worth (or Work or Wonder or Whatever)!
The inspiration for this post came from reading a "Works for Me" tip over at Moms by Heart (which unfortunately no longer exists). We have had fun and productive summers, but it does take some advance planning. With less than a month of school left, that means that now's the time to plan. I better take my own advice!
Six years ago we ended the school year with a high school graduate, two more teenagers, and two still in elementary school. Although the summer wasn't too long (maybe ten weeks), I knew I'd go crazy if I heard "Mom, I'm bored" all day long times five.
Our family motto came to the rescue:
"Show Respect" turned into
Summer
Hours
Of
Worth
Reading
Employment
Sports
Projects
Entertainment
Cooking
Traditions
or "Scholarly Haven of Wonder" or "Super Habits of Work" with different other subjects.
And it worked! The oldest at home had a full-time job, but the rest of them filled out their "lists of five"** and kept up the chore charts and I didn't have to listen to "I'm bored!" all summer. Since I am NeverBored, that's one phrase I find particulary irritating!
Doesn't it look like they had fun? In addition to keeping rooms neat and practicing the piano, we had friends over, went swimming, visited the beach and the Orlando Temple, tried new recipes, read a lot, wrote letters to Elder Weston and played plenty of video games.
All too soon summer ends, and come August, here's the sight that greets you, even if it's still 95° outside.
Best wishes for making the summer of 2009 memorable in a good way!
** Each of us filled out a list of fives and the idea was to complete everything over the course of the summer. It included things like books to read, recipes to try, piano pieces to learn, friends to invite over, places to visit, etc. You can go here to see some of our "respect" categories.
Summer Hours of Worth (or Work or Wonder or Whatever)!
The inspiration for this post came from reading a "Works for Me" tip over at Moms by Heart (which unfortunately no longer exists). We have had fun and productive summers, but it does take some advance planning. With less than a month of school left, that means that now's the time to plan. I better take my own advice!
Six years ago we ended the school year with a high school graduate, two more teenagers, and two still in elementary school. Although the summer wasn't too long (maybe ten weeks), I knew I'd go crazy if I heard "Mom, I'm bored" all day long times five. Our family motto came to the rescue:
"Show Respect" turned into
Summer
Hours
Of
Worth
Reading
Employment
Sports
Projects
Entertainment
Cooking
Traditions
or "Scholarly Haven of Wonder" or "Super Habits of Work" with different other subjects.
And it worked! The oldest at home had a full-time job, but the rest of them filled out their "lists of five"** and kept up the chore charts and I didn't have to listen to "I'm bored!" all summer. Since I am NeverBored, that's one phrase I find particulary irritating!
Doesn't it look like they had fun? In addition to keeping rooms neat and practicing the piano, we had friends over, went swimming, visited the beach and the Orlando Temple, tried new recipes, read a lot, wrote letters to Elder Weston and played plenty of video games.
All too soon summer ends, and come August, here's the sight that greets you, even if it's still 95° outside.
Best wishes for making the summer of 2009 memorable in a good way! ** Each of us filled out a list of fives and the idea was to complete everything over the course of the summer. It included things like books to read, recipes to try, piano pieces to learn, friends to invite over, places to visit, etc. You can go here to see some of our "respect" categories.
Comments
Reading, renewal, relaxation
Education, employment
Service, scrapbooking, sports
PE, pals, projects, piano, potential
Entertainment, energy
Companions, cooking
Transition, talents, tradition, tools