Tackle it Whenever
Yes, this is my living room. Well, it was. I know, it looks like a tornado hit. Well it did. My daughter. In fact that is her nickname: The Tornado. and while this is not entirely her fault, she helped. So when my mom offered to give us a beautiful three piece entetainment center and she hired the movers to bring it in less than 24 hours, I decided that it was time to tackle this massive mess.
I worked long and hard in between tweets and surfing the net. Then, my husband helped when he got home from work at 1:00 am. And then we moved some stuff in the morning. Still, it wasn’t until after 9:30 PM that night that the living room actually started to take shape. Of course much of this had to do with the fact that I had a EXQUISITE piece of furniture to work around. And so, without further ado, I introduce my new living room.
Isn’t it beautiful?! I love it and so does my daughter. She likes to open and close the cabinet and roll around on the rug. It’s a good quality rug too- soft and thick.
It’s funny how one really expensive and beautiful piece of furniture can change your mood. I was geting kind of bummed because my apartment lacked character and style, but not any more. It is beautiful. It almost makes the big whole in my wall left by the movers worth it- ok, not quite.
Next, my dining room table. 
This is what happens when a mom is trying to start her own business and a husband is working very hard to pick up the slack. Hey you think this is bad? You should see my bedroom. I have a lot to do before… Continue reading
She Gets Stickies
Now that I am working from home, I want to ensure that my daughter learns responsibility and is not just running willy-nilly around the house. So, when I read Simple Mom’s post about chores for preschoolers, we decided to make a chart for our 29 month old. Our chart is not much different from the one that Simple Mom offers here for download. The only difference is that we begin our week on Sunday and our pictures are a little different. Here is a picture of ours:
We have been using the chart for three days and it is great. We wake up at around 8:00 am every morning (or almost every morning) and SWHS must help us make her bed. We go into the kitchen to get breakfast and then she helps unload the silverware (minus the knives). This is her favorite part of the day I think. She has always loved to help and she wants to please us so badly. More importantly, however, is that skills-wise, she was ready for these tasks. She mimics us and when I allowed her to help with the silverware a few weeks ago, she was so excited. It is important to build on that excitement so that children learn that the everyday mundane things (like cleaning, cooking, making one’s bed) can be fun and rewarding.
And speaking of rewards, my daughter loves stickers (she calls them stickies). She realized pretty quickly that she would get a sticky every time she completed a chore. We did not explain that to her. We just started doing it- after every two task, we would allow her to choose a sticker and then we would show her where to put it on her chart. After only three days she knows where most… Continue reading