FRIDAY FUNDAY AND YOU!

So, I know I usually talk about deals, but this time I want to talk about boredom.
Summer boredom.
So, this is my first year with a child in school who has a summer break. I wanted to beat her to the "I am so bored I'm going to make you suffer" punch, so I started a summer routine. On a tangent--- I prefer the term routine to schedule because while I KNOW kids need a regular and consistent routine to keep their days comforting and sane, children should not be scheduled, particularly babies. There needs to be some flexibility! But enough of that, I can really go off, so moving back on topic--- routine. Here is a sample of it:

Clean bedroom
Make bed
Brush teeth
Get dressed
Eat breakfast
Clean up kitchen area
Deep clean kitchen			Deep clean living room
deep clean tiny bathroom			Deep clean dressing room
Deep clean parents room			Deep clean porch
Earn 1 tv show
Read a book
Exercise time
Snack
Music lesson or practice
quick tidy living room
Earn 1 tv show
Lunch
Naps
Outside chore
Mommy read to kids time
Dinner
Get ready and go to bed

Note a few things about that routine. There are no set times. That is because I have a life and I need some flexibility. Some days have soccer, some have playgroup and some (Lord willing) my kids sleep in. So, that is the first thing.

Second, see the part where I put "deep clean" and you see 3 rooms and then another row with 3 rooms. Each day I clean 3 rooms in my house with the kids' help. I then ignore that room until next week. Every room gets a good cleaning each week, but I don't stress myself out with perfection, which I just can't do.

I'm sure you are wondering how I get the kids to comply. Well, sometimes I don't to be honest. But that is why I love the tv. My kids are "too tired" to work, I'm "too tired" to turn on the tv. Simple as that. I have built in play and tv rewards in my routine to keep them going from hour to hour.

But there is a bigger goal... FRIDAY FUNDAY!

We made a list together of all the cool things we want to do each week. When we've done our work and we've been kind, we are rewarded on Friday. We (mostly me) pick an item on the list and we get to do it!

Some of our items so far have included:
eat lunch at Daddy's work
Go to a candy store
Go to a cupcake store
Go to the rodeo
Go to the park
Make home made ice cream and popsicles and swim in the pool in the yard
Watch a movie in the basement with snacks
Go fishing at Jefferson Lake

So, see where I'm going? Most are cheap, but all have memory potential.

My kids love it, my house is clean and I'm not losing my mind. And the tv is OFF a lot!

So, there you go. What do YOU do in the summer time?