Steven & Ashlee Simons

Fast forward to first day of school 2012. I take all the kids to school and decide to up load the pictures that I took. Ben looks like he is 10. He looks like Steven, he smiles like Steven, he likes to dress like Steven. Even his looks he gives me are looks from Steven. He turns 6 next week and I honestly can't remember them there six years so good. 

Where does time go? In six more years he will have the priesthood, in six years after that he will be done with high school, and in the following six after that he could have a wife and family of his own. Which I don't know how any woman besides me could hold his little heart or be good enough for that handsome man right there! Cry! CRY! 

Rewind back from the future to today. I went to get his light jacket from last year for this morning. I hung it up last year in his closet, because I am a pretty good mom and think ahead, and because I bought it extra big to fit him this year. Ben happily puts it on and it's way . . . too . . . small. 

It's not a big deal but last week he came out in a pair of jeans that I quickly told him were WAY to small. So he put on another, those were too small with holes in them. I went to his room and threw away five pairs of pants that either had holes all over them and were too small or were just too small period. So I made a trip to Costco to buy Levis for $12 (This is great were else can you buy Levis for $12!!!). My friend who has three boys talked me into buying 7 and three pairs of them. BOY! :), was she right glad I didn't buy him a 6. I did buy him a winter coat, but didn't buy him a light jacket because I thought surely his one from last year will fit. 

Nope. He is a young man (not really but it feels like it). He is growing quicker than I can shop. And that's pretty fast. Today I ate lunch with him at school. Someone asked if he was my boy. I said, "Yes, Benjamin is my little boy." Gave him a kiss on the head, because who knows how long I will be able to continue that. The little girl and boy across the table shouted at me and said, "Ben is the biggest kid in Kindergarten! He isn't little!!" "Well, he is still little to me." 'Nother kiss. 

But they are right you know, he is the biggest kid in kindergarten by almost a full head and one day he wont be little any more, but he will always be my boy. Sniff, sniff. 

More on Ben's PARTY!! 

This is an even year which meant Ben got a friend party. He wanted it at the gymnastic's in Rifle. We had so much fun and just invited his friends and our friends, Subs, and cake topped off the night with a bang!!! Love this 6 year old!!

Taming the dark side!!! We had Jedi school!!

Before school got out last spring I made this job chart. I spent hours making it, painting it, waiting for things I bought for it to come in the mail, and then many hours putting it together and waiting for my husband to screw the metal sheet to the wood sheet which ended up weighing what feels like over twenty pounds. 

I hated asking everyone twenty times to empty the dishwasher, make their beds, and get dressed in the morning. Not only that, I work, so therefore I can't do what I do alone and they were getting old enough to have more responsibility around the house. I remember my saturday jobs and wanted this to be a part of my children's lives too. So here is how it works. 

Marin, Samantha and Ben all have a sheet on the job chart. I made job magnets because Ben can't read so all he has to do is look at the pictures . . . besides the magnets are way cuter than just words. There is a to do list and a done list. Everyone has six jobs in the morning, this sounds like a lot but just keep reading. The first four are the same for everyone Marin, Samantha and Benjamin. They have to get dressed, clean their room, eat breakfast and they have a homework magnet that isn't done until after school. These are the four I was yelling the most about in the morning. Is your bed made? Is your room clean? Why are you not dressed! Oh my gosh you didn't eat breakfast . . . (as we are driving to school)?!!!

You now get the picture, now all I have to say is, "Are your jobs done?" and they can remind themselves. They can't play, watch TV, play ipad until those jobs are D.O.N.E.

Now there are five other jobs that are divided by three children. They are also mandatory jobs they must do in addition to their four every morning jobs. These are empty dishwasher, vacuum . . . they have to ask me where to vacuum, set dinner table, empty trash, make lunches. Who ever has make lunches has to help me make all their cold lunches in the morning for the whole week. The lunch magnet only gets rotated weekly. So this is their extra job for the whole week.  I make the sandwhich and they have to pack up the rest of the lunch with snacks and fill everyone's water bottle. If you forget this, the wrath of each other is enough to make each other not forget. I've decided not to intervene and let them remind each other. I call it invoking responsible on something that is super important. No food means you go hungry which is very upsetting. 

Empty dish washer and set table go together, vacuum and clean down stairs also get rotated together daily. I've clumped them so they are evenly hard. 

Each day they do all of their chores they get a black magnet on the bottom of their sheet for that day. 

They are many, many, many "extra" jobs they can do in order to earn more magnets or to earn back magnets that have been taken away, yes we take them away for bad behavior. Which is like losing an entire day of jobs because of serious offenses it's been a strong incentive for good behavior in the house. 

Now the reward . . . 

Every Friday we count up their magnets and I had out "mom bucks" and bring out the "mom store." I was giving a $1 per mom buck, but this was getting expensive, so I changed to the "mom store." This is a bucket filling with goodies ranging from $3 to $22 (Mom bucks), daddy has been putting more expensive things like $50 and $100 (Mom bucks) items to make them save up. 

Result- my children love it! Want to wine in the morning? I just tell them we can not do this and no more mom store and this quickly fixes their attitude.  Plus my house is clean when they leave for school!!! 

(As you can tell int he picture above there are other things that have made their way by my job chart. Things like a box of pencils, approved reading material for after school, three egg timers for things like playing video games, 20 min. of reading after school, or watching tv for a set period of time. It's my little corner of raising responsible children!) ;) lol