Month 6

I can't believe at the end of this month I will be halfway through a year!  It has flown by.  So far, my life feels so much more full and happy and I can see a big difference in my kids and myself.

I'm going to do something a little similar to what I did in one other month.  I'm taking the first week for organization and then I'll annnounce what I'll be working on for the few weeks after the week is over.

This week:

1 - Make a schedule for the year.  I'm always wanting to be more purposeful about how we spend time together, so I'm actually going to plan it out.  No more looking back and thinking, I wanted to give my kids more cultural experiences, but the year flew by before I knew it!  I'm going to plan out specifics.  (I've already worked on this a few hours, I just need to finish it!)

2 - Make a prioritized vacation list with my husband for the next ten years.  Since we only do one vacation a year, this should be pretty easy. (The Parenting Breakthrough has me inspired to do more planning from back to front)

3 - Update my kids school job charts.

4 - Plan a family home evening schedule for the year. 

5 - Refine my budget.

6 -  Go over my daily schedule, either refine it or make a morning/evening routine list to help manage or mornings and evenings. (Including a routine for and a set place for homework)

I have already worked on something today (see top photo).  I've been wanting to help my kids get in a better routine with piano and jobs and homework but I don't want to nag.  TV/computer (I cut the kids back to 1 hour a day in the summer) is a powerful motivator but we have a screen free rule on weeknights.  We try to make movie night on Friday special to make up for it.  But this means the kids are mostly motivated to do their jobs on Friday and Saturday and not during the week, because there is no incentive.  So, I'm going to try this.  I made "movie tickets" that they must present in order to come to the movie on Friday night.  They must have them filled out with their practice time and have done jobs and homework each day in order to attend.

On a side note, I'm so excited for the coming month.  I love Halloween and the leaves and the cooller weather.  Fall is my favorite.  Plus, I'm taking advantage of the fact my baby still gets to wear those cute tight PJ's.  These are new and he couldn't stop saying "truck" and "tractor!" 

What motivates your kids? What is your favorite part of the fall season? 

If you want an electronic copy of our "movie ticket," email me and I'll send it to you.  Probably I'm the only one out there who needs something like this!