I am sure I am not the only one who finds themselves frustrated by the constant nagging that can occur when one has a child (or two) whom you are trying to get up and out the door in the morning or sitting down for dinner or to bed at night.
Today I decided to get creative with my nearly five year old daughter after another morning battle around getting dressed. She responds well to visual direction and reminders (she’s her mother’s daughter). We used pictures and award charts for things in the past like staying in her bed, using the potty at night and most recently when she decided she wanted help to stop sucking her thumb.
This morning she and I sat down together and in 20 minutes created the below job chart for her morning, evening and bedtime routines. From now on, rather then me repeatedly reminding or nagging her to go get dressed or put the napkins out or brush her teeth, I’ve told her that instead I will simply ask her what is next on her chart.
It’s now on the refrigerator and she is eagerly awaiting dinnertime so she can use it.
As a leader in both your work and your home it’s important to think outside the box, get out of your head, stop doing the same thing over and over if it’s not working and get creative about solving your everyday challenges. I am sure that this job chart will not eliminate all nagging from my house, but I love the fact that my daughter and I sat down together and came up with a plan so that she can feel more excited and successful about what she is supposed to do and I can feel less stressed about getting her to do it.
Coaches Corner:
Think about a specific challenge you have on a regular basis with your kids. Brainstorm some ideas with your children if they are old enough about how you can work together to come up with a solution. If you are stumped or your kids aren’t old enough to have the discussion with, submit your challenge to me and I’ll give you some ideas in a future blog post.
Tags: communication tips, Enjoying Motherhood, executive moms coach, improving relationships, leadership skills, Parenting Advice, parenting skills, working mom
I love this chart, Nicola! What a great project that you could collaborate on with your daughter. My kids have actually been asking me for a task chart again, since they loved marking a check by each of their items and getting their reward for a certain number of checks each week. I have been too lazy (well, ok, preoccupied is better) to get it done, but that is partly due to my imagining it to be harder than it is. Your chart is simple, beautiful and effective. I’ll take a cue from you and get that chart done for my kids, too.
Thanks for sharing this!
Lara Galloway
The Mom Biz Coach
http://www.mombizcoach.com
Nicola, great chart! I’m wondering where you got the pictures?! Very cute and perfect for the chart. I have a 5-year old too that struggles with his morning routine so I would love to do something just like this!
Thanks Julie! I am happy to hear you like the chart. My daughter was so complaining about going to school this morning until I asked her what was on her chart. She ran and got it and quickly did each task. She was so proud of herself! I got the pictures from Mircrosoft Clip Art. Just went to the site and typed in what I was looking for. Had to weed through various pictures, but let Lindsay pick out the ones she liked so it was more her creation. Let me know how it goes with your daughter. Nicola
Let us know how your charts go! Remember that it doesn’t have to take long to do. The point is to just get it done with your kid’s involvement on some level so they have buy-in.
Nicola
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