Beginnings of a Family Mission Statement

 

 This is the beginning of our family mission statement. I have been hearing from a couple of different sources how important it is to have your family be working on something together and that  a mission statement unifies the family. We started out last week by having everyone start thinking of words that describe our family. This week I stood at the white board as everyone fired off word after word that they think describes us. The above picture is what we came up with together. 

I noticed the next day that some clever soul added 'sneaky' to the list. :) It is a correct addition apparently. 

The next step we take will be to narrow the list down to the 10 most important words that we want our family to be described as. Then we will discuss those words and see what their deep meanings are. Then the plan is to narrow the list down even further. I'm not sure at this point how many words will be left. When we have our narrowed down list of words, then we will put them into sentence form to define the core values of our family.

This process will take several weeks so it will be well thought out and not just a spur of the moment thing. My plan is to then have an ongoing dialogue of what we can do daily to keep our family in line with the statement. I will blog again and let you know how it goes!

A View Of My Day

Today went like this:
   Up at 5:30 to walk a mile, did T-Tapp and started a load of laundry (every other day it is walking 3 miles.)

•    Made almond milk for our whole grain cereal and did other chores.
• My husband read the Bible to the boys at the table while I unloaded the dishwasher and did other kitchen chores.
• Dad went to work, the boys got going on their chores and I on mine. 
• We came together to eat breakfast and have a devotional which consists of memorizing a song and a poem, a prayer from our prayer list on the white board, we read and discussed 2 pages from the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, and I read a chapter from the Book of Mormon.
• We all did our after meal chores.
• The younger boys took a play break while I took a shower and the scholars took off on their studies.
• The younger boys and I did our 30 minute deep clean.
• We made the shells for our piπatas.
• My 13 year old made lunch and we ate. (Broccoli with garlic oil, leftovers stirfry, and ugh - taters tots).
• While the boys started eating I read 2 chapters from the Life of Fred math book and the younger boys did the problems on the white board. (They loved it)
• We did our after meal chores.
• We went to the family room and read for an hour from Island of the Blue Dolphins.
• The younger boys and I sorted and folded laundry.
• I am here now for some quiet time to work on my goals, one of which is to write in this blog. The younger kids are playing and the older ones are getting things ready for a scout camping trip.

That is our day so far.The rest of the day is for working on individual goals. I am thinking of making the morning play break into more of a goal reaching time instead of in the afternoon.  I'll try it and see how it goes.  The outline is pretty much the same every day. Instead of the pinata, on most days we read from a science or history book, or do some sort of activity. This is what flows for us and seems natural. 

Food Chart

This is my eating chart that I customized after seeing the Swiss food Pyramid. I like having balance in my eating and this seemed like a good guideline. When I am hungry instead of going to the cupboard to find something to eat, I go to the chart and see what I have not had yet. I move the thumbtack on top of the word for what I have eaten so it is no longer visible making it easier to see what is left to eat for the day.

The Swiss version had 3 servings of dairy. I changed 2 of the servings to beans and sprouts which in my opinion have more nutrition than dairy.

Extra Chores

For years we have had a system of myself giving extra chores to those who chose not to follow the rules of the house. My nine year old Cody came up with an idea to take it even further which has been so fun and wonderful. I typed up all of the deep cleaning chores for our house in a large font, printed them out, had my 7 year old Tyler cut them up into strips, and put them in a jar. I also made a list of prizes that I was willing to give out. I listed back rub, dollar towards fishing lure, 30 minutes t.v., cup of juice, popsicle, and $1.00. I copied these several times, and also had them cut into strips and put into a separate jar. Now when my kids want a prize they take a slip of paper that has been crunched up from the CHORES jar and do the chore. When I have passed off that it has been done well(according to their age and ability), they can choose another slip of crunched up paper from the PRIZE jar. When a rule is broken I have a jar full of chores for them to take from. It works well to get my deep cleaning done and is teaching them how to do household cleaning, and that if they disobey a rule they will have an immediate consequence. I typed the lists so that when each chore is done the slip of paper is torn and thrown away. Then when the jar is empty and the deep cleaning done, I print the list and start over again.

Our Family Schedule

5 am I shower
Start Laundry
Make the Bed
Scripture Study
Walk Around the Block

7 am get the boys up
Hygiene
Chores
Breakfast (song, prayer, memorization, talk about what I am learning in the scriptures,
classics, and current news.)
After Meal Chores ( Each person has two chores like wash table, put food away, etc.)
Play till 8:30

8:30 15 minute pickup
15 minute bedroom pickup

9am I read aloud from current classic
School Closet Opens
Open ended activities and personal interest study ensues

12pm Cleanup
Lunch / Greek Practice
After Meal Chores
My Study Time (kids quiet activities inside and loud activities outside.)

4pm I type my Daily Essay

5pm Laundry Party
15 Minute Pickup (boys pickup while I vacuum)
Start Dinner

6:30 Dinner (discussion on character, what's being learned, etc. )
After Meal Chores

7pm Baths
Scriptures and Prayer
Youngest in Bed

8pm Oldest Kids Can Read
I sweep and mop while listening to a book on CD or forum talk
Mom ready for bed

9pm Lights Out