Progress not perfection.

Right now, that's the name of the game.

Last night, completely and utterly exhausted, I sat down. I feel like most days I'm chasing my tail: trying to keep up and clean up after the kids. Worn down, worn out and just plain old.

I came to one conclusion.

The kids have to help more.

Without whining, fussing, or complaining - at least most of the time.

I started surfing "Kids Chore Charts" and came up with this one.

First off, I needed to decide exactly what I wanted done. I came up with six things for the older two and four for the toddler - only one of them (make bed and tidy room) has to be done every day. The others, I designated days for the chores to be done: Laundry once a week - each on a different day, vacuuming and sweeping twice a week, bathrooms once a week.

So going across the chart: the first is the reminder icon, the second is their name, the third is a description of the chore, followed by the days of the week. If the day of the week is highlighted, it is a mandatory chore. Secondly, do they get paid? If the chore description is outlined in green, they can earn money if they do it in addition to the mandatory days.

All well and good, right? The thing is, I don't want to nag them to get it done. I'm not expecting a chipper, "Chores sound swell, Mom!" But I don't want the opposite either.

That lead me to create "Super Stickers!" It's another chart they earn behavior based stickers on. Stickers may also be taken away (though not often). That is simply a big sheet with their name on it.

So far, today has gone rather well, but that's hard to tell if it's them or me.

In other news...

Here is a picture of the dress I made for myself. It's pretty generous in the waist, but that helps hide the lumps...