Unhappy Medium
So this week we started a new task/reward system for the boys. It's really nothing original; we have several tasks we'd like the boys to do every day, without us asking, and when they do them, they will get a point. Points add up to stickers and stickers mean rewards.
I will be the first to admit that our previous versions of this system probably failed because they were way too time consuming for me. It's exhausting following the boys around, making sure they pick up socks, put away shoes, clean dinner dishes. I would just as soon do it myself.
Which leads to my current impasse. Nearly every day I work from home and/or the office from about 7:30 to 2:30 when I pick up the boys. Although I'm on the clock until 5:30, I often spend those afternoon hours negotiating fights, fixing snacks, nagging about homework and starting dinner. After dinner, clean up.
And here is where my family and I are at odds. Here is where I am completely disenchanted. Here is where I spend the next 90 minutes tidying the house, finishing laundry, making sure uniforms are ready for the next day, homework is in the backpack, pets are fed, kids are bathed, teeth are brushed. And yes, on most nights, when the boys go to bed at 8:30 and Abby gets into bed shortly after, I too, go to bed and read or watch TV.
But apparently my family thinks I should forgo all these nighttime rituals, kick my feet up and watch Destroy Build Destroy until bedtime. While, yes, I would love to do this, I would love to spend downtime with my kids, I firmly believe some things have to get done. If they don't, they pile up and after a very short time, the sink is full, all the dishes are dirty, we have no clean clothes and every single toy, shoe and coat is sprawled throughout the house.
But here's the catch. Nobody but me cares if it gets done. So while I could say I will ignore these nightly tasks for the next few days, no one will care. I will be the one who will break down and pick up the wet towels and orphaned socks and empty the overflowing garbage cans.
And I'll get nothing but criticism for it.
I will be the first to admit that our previous versions of this system probably failed because they were way too time consuming for me. It's exhausting following the boys around, making sure they pick up socks, put away shoes, clean dinner dishes. I would just as soon do it myself.
Which leads to my current impasse. Nearly every day I work from home and/or the office from about 7:30 to 2:30 when I pick up the boys. Although I'm on the clock until 5:30, I often spend those afternoon hours negotiating fights, fixing snacks, nagging about homework and starting dinner. After dinner, clean up.
And here is where my family and I are at odds. Here is where I am completely disenchanted. Here is where I spend the next 90 minutes tidying the house, finishing laundry, making sure uniforms are ready for the next day, homework is in the backpack, pets are fed, kids are bathed, teeth are brushed. And yes, on most nights, when the boys go to bed at 8:30 and Abby gets into bed shortly after, I too, go to bed and read or watch TV.
But apparently my family thinks I should forgo all these nighttime rituals, kick my feet up and watch Destroy Build Destroy until bedtime. While, yes, I would love to do this, I would love to spend downtime with my kids, I firmly believe some things have to get done. If they don't, they pile up and after a very short time, the sink is full, all the dishes are dirty, we have no clean clothes and every single toy, shoe and coat is sprawled throughout the house.
But here's the catch. Nobody but me cares if it gets done. So while I could say I will ignore these nightly tasks for the next few days, no one will care. I will be the one who will break down and pick up the wet towels and orphaned socks and empty the overflowing garbage cans.
And I'll get nothing but criticism for it.
posted by Romine Family at 12:16 PM
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