Teaching Them to "Number Their Days"

I have been so frustrated lately with the inability of my children to do what they need to do when they need to do it. Some of them have been a part of this family with activities at the same time during the week for a long time!  I find that Pinterest is helpful, and although some of the things that I see there are great for someone else's family, I haven't really found a lot of things that would work in our house.

In any project where I am trying to make a point to my
children, I like to start with a concept from God's word. This
takes the pressure off of me. It is also a great reminder for
me too, we all need to be better at using our time wisely!

So, I decided to help the children become a little more responsible with some friendly reminders. One problem we have is that no one seems to know how to tell time. I can tell them exactly what time I want them in the car so we can leave for an activity and it doesn't matter if they are 12 or 5 or in between, they don't seem to have a concept.

I was reading through Psalm 90 this morning because verse 12 is especially important to me lately and I got a picture in my head. This is important and a wise person does know how to manage their time. Not only a life time of moments, but the daily moments too.

In an area of our dining room that has become somewhat of a communication hub, I started with Psalm 90:12 as you can see. The rest of it I will show with pictures because it is more fun to see the result then try to understand as someone explains it. (Can you tell I am a visual person?) If I am lucky, my kids are too and this will actually help them!

I found a good image of a clock without hands from an
online worksheet and made some copies. I labelled
little boys' times to remember with green ink
and the triplets' times to remember with blue ink and mounted
them on black paper.

The three main times of the day that are the same for every
single day (you would think they could remember) are
Waking up time, being in the van ready for school time,
and bed time. Now, they are officially posted!

I also posted reminder times for them to stop during their
evening and make sure they are on track (yes, even the
12-year-olds seem to need this although they would never
admit it!)

This is a magnetic board where I can switch out the times
each day. Here I will post the times people need to be in the
van and where they are going. This includes practices, lessons
and also random schedule items (like concerts, etc.)

And this is my finished wall. We will see how everyone responds in just a little while. It looks good and hopefully it will accomplish the reminders I need to give to the children without me feeling like reminding is all I do!

Now, my next chore is to come up with a brilliant idea for this silly chore board that doesn't seem to grab anyone's attention ever!

I am thinking a column for each child and since it is also magnetic, I can change around chores and they can once again take ownership.

There used to be many systems in place in this house to keep it running ship shape. Just like I am starting to get my body back after cancer and all of these surgeries, I am also getting excited about getting my kids back in line doing what they know to do without me loosing my voice trying to keep them on top of their responsibilities. It is good to be back in the project managing role. I can get so much more done when the chores are taken care of!