One of the CC Smart Mama’s in my sons’ class lent me this book (check your library), which I completely devoured. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the book. It basically tells their story and how God has been at work in their life. But I absolutely had to share my two favorite parts that have practical application.
My all-time favorite was “Jurisdictions”. Now – I have always been in favor of giving my children chores to teach them responsibility, have them help throughout the house, and to train them to follow through, but this is a different way of looking at chores. Historically, I have assigned specific chores to the kids – pick up the toys, set the table, straighten the coats, etc. Well, in a nutshell, “jurisdictions” eliminates specifics. Instead, you assign an area, or “jurisdiction” to the kids. First, I talked to them about what “jurisdiction” meant using the idea of the President of the United States. I asked the kids if he was in charge of just a few states or all of them. Of course, they said all of them. I said, “so his “jurisdiction” is the whole United States”. I gave them some other examples in real life, and we talked about what those people’s “jurisdiction” was, or the area they are in charge of. I told them that they are going to be assigned jurisdictions in the house – areas they are in charge of. Then we talked about when the President is in charge – is he only in charge in the morning for a few hours, and then he does what he wants and the states are on their own? Or does he have to be in charge of the states at all times, and any tine they need something, do it? Of course they said, “all the time.” We talked about how their jurisdiction are the same way. If at any time during the day, something is out of place in their jurisdiction, they needed to correct it – not just when mommy tells them to. Then I assigned their jurisdictions to them, and pointed out what they need to look for, and what the areas should look like to be considered taken care of. We have actually had fun doing it, and they seem to like to be in charge of an area. It is my new favorite tool (hopefully it lasts a while!)
The second great thing I got from it is the “blanket playpen.” You train a young child to sit on a blanket for a period of time with only one object. Start small, training them not to leave the blanket parameters, then add the toy, then increase the amount of time. Pretty soon, you have a playpen in a purse! It comes in handy when you are out-and-about and you want them to stay safe and for you to be able to participate for up to an hour, depending on the age of the kids. The trick is to make it fun (or so the book says). I am just barely starting to work on this one, so we will see how it goes, but it sounds great at the forefront!
Anyway, just thought I would share!
~Karen
Karen, I would love to hear how the jurisdictions are going. Are they still excited about them and keeping their areas picked up? I am thinking about introducing this to my girls. 🙂
Hi Bri! The jurisdictions are still going well! I think the key to them are two things:
1. I carefully trained them the first two days. The first day, I handed them their “chore pack” – basically a notecard with ALL of the things they need to do in that room. For example, Becca has bathroom jurisdiction. Hers says this: Make sure all items are off of the floor. Put away any items left out on the countertop. Use a towel from the closet and the windex to wipe down the mirror. Use that same towel, get it wet and wipe down the counter top. Put towel in laundry. Close shower curtain. Shake rug. Toilet paper on toilet paper roller. Toilet lid down. Step stool on side of toilet. Lights off. The first day, I gave her her card, and showed her how to do each item. The second day, I just watched while she walked through them on her own, which brings me to the next key step:
2. I try to NEVER tell them what to do in their jurisdictions. I want them to re-check their list so their brain registers what needs to be done. Otherwise, they will train their brain to wait for me to tell them to do each thing, which is of no help to me in the end. I tell them to “please do your jurisdictions”, and they are off (Robby has hallway jurisdiction – coats, mittens, shoes, staircase and upstairs hallway, and bookcase jurisdiction – 2 bookshelves for the kids that tend to get wild on me. Becca has living room and bathroom jurisdictions) When they are done, they shout that they are done and EVERY day I check to make sure they are done completely, and correctly. Using the bathroom example like above, if I get there and she has not shaken out the rug or wiped the mirror. I do not tell her to do those items. I tell her it is not complete and to check her list. It is actually hard to train yourself not to tell them, but when you get used to it, it eliminates the “nagging” aspect of your household – love it!
On another note, we use separate terms for “Jurisdictions” and “Habits” This is how it works at our household:
“Habits must be done before they come downstairs, and before breakfast. If they are not done before breakfast is over (set time), they miss breakfast. That may sound harsh, but they only have to miss it once to realize they need to do them right away. Habits consist of dressing for the day, putting jammies in the laundry, brushing teeth and hair, beds made, and rooms completely picked up. I trained them on these the same way I did on the jurisdictions. We worked on our habits a couple of months before we did jurisdictions. This might be the best to go since your kids are still young. Plus, it enables them to get used to checking a list and you used to not telling them each item. Ryan (2) even says he does his “habits”. I help him brush his teeth of course, but the rest he can pretty much do on his own (Robby makes Ry’s bed). I love it because Ryan has never known it any other way, and enjoys the routine. When we started with habits, I printed up a very simple list with little clip art pictures next to the words for the little ones who can’t read (Robby also couldn’t read at the time). We have morning habits and bedtime habits, which are basically the same as morning, but add flossing and showers).
Well, this is entirely too long, but that is all of it in a nutshell!
Only regret is that we didn’t start it sooner…..
Oh, and the last thing – don’t ever slack on checking them and requiring COMPLETE adherence to all items. It sometimes is easy to let them slide if you are in a hurry, but that can set you back a month since the kids are like, “oh, I guess we don’t have to do everything just right if we don’t have time or if Mom isn’t going to check it anyway….” Sneaky little buggers!
Karen,
YOU.ARE.GENIUS!!!!!!!!! I LOVE all of this, and I think we will start that sometime this week. You are exactly right when you say that I need to continue checking their jobs even when I am in a hurry; I think that’s why it hasn’t gone well for us yet, because I have done that.
I can’t wait to start this. I am so thankful that you shared all of this!!!! I will let you know how it goes! 🙂