Chore chart still works!

Two days in a row and the chore chart is still working!! WooHoo!! Of course, the kids are doing about a million times better with theirs than I am with mine. I think I figured out my problem though... I don't have TIME to do chores when I'm helping the kids with all their stuff. I get all my morning and evening ones done, but two days in a row now, the only afternoon chore I've done is to check on the laundry (and that's just check on, not finish out the load, lol) and I guess I've planned dinner. But the last chore that the kids do in the morning is "start schoolwork" and that's usually at about 11:30 and takes us until about 1:00 or 1:30, depending. Then we have lunch, if we didn't have it during school, and after that we usually have some errand to run. Then I help the kids with their afternoon chores and after all that, I'm just done. Nap time.

Today, for example, after we finished schoolwork we went to the library and then had one of our infamous grocery store trips. Do your kids ever get that crazy, over-tired, super-hyper thing around dinnertime or before bedtime? Well, Cameron and Cassia had it BAD at the store. Any attempt to calm them down just resulted in them dissolving into a pool of laughter - usually in the middle of the aisle. So by the time we get home, I'm just livid (hormones already - oh, joy) and I've had this raging headache all day (again, hormones) and they just want to watch a movie. No way, José! I tell them that if they do all their afternoon chores then I will think about it. They were STILL crazy while doing their chores, but they did them. So then I turn on a movie for them (Princess Stories II from the library, lol), put Greyson down for a nap, and go fall asleep until 5:00. Then it's time to start dinner and my day is gone. Where did it go? Part of me wants to feel guilty for the nap but I'm not exactly productive when I'm yelling at everyone because I'm tired and head-achey.

Anyway, my point - and I did have one - is that I think I need to revamp my schedule a bit. Obviously, the afternoon is not a good time for me to schedule the bulk of my cleaning. Or maybe I just need to schedule a nap in there too so that I know that once I get X done I can go take my nap. Of course naps all depend on Grey and scheduling him doesn't work very well, lol. He didn't fall asleep today until after 3:00 and he usually naps around 12 or 1. The good news though is that my house is immensely cleaner. Just having both kids responsible in a check-it-off-the-list way has really made a difference in the toy debris around here. And we have clean windows! Cameron loves that chore. And Cassia even made her bed this morning!! She is always going on about how she is "too little" or "not old enough" to do it by herself, but the little dry erase dot on her chart sure is a big motivator!

So that is my brain dump for the day. But what is this blog supposed to be about? Oh yeah, homeschooling! Yeah, we did that too. Cameron did a short phonics lesson (on words like work, word, and worm), the entire week's worth of stuff on Spelling Time, one exercise in math on dividing by two, and one grammar/language lesson on memorizing the months of the year in order. Cassia didn't do anything today. She didn't even participate in the grammar recitations which she usually loves to do. We didn't do any history or science today either, but last night we read several African folk tales before bed. Their favorite one was Zomo the Rabbit. We read that one twice and Cameron even said, "When we're all done with History, we can even read this one for fun!"

OK, off to do my night time chores and hopefully have enough time leftover for yoga... or maybe just sleep. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz