Go pro... or go crazy

This past week Ben went back to the States for a week to take care of some work business. About 25 hours into my time "alone" (in a new country, on the other side of the world, with four small children... who just so happened to be on school vacation)
I realized that I was going to need to step. up. my. game.

I have had several of these "come to Jesus" moments in my career as a mother, when I realize that I might lose my mind if I don't get organized. Usually when this happens I cry... and then send out a desperate (and sometimes whiny) plea for prayer... and then I get a big glass of coke zero, pick and appropriate pandora station and "go pro".

In Steven Pressfield's inspiring book called The War of Art he talks a lot about becoming a professional... it is a book written mostly for artist, musician and writers, but I have found a lot of  crossover in all areas of my life... including parenting.

On this particular morning, my organizational crisis had to do with chores... more specifically, getting my kids to do them. I have been gathering resources on this topic for a while and have tried a few packaged systems (like this great one from Dave Ramsey)... but I wanted something that felt simple, adjustable, clean and also incorporated some handwriting practice for my kids. This is what I finally came up with after a week of adjustments.

daily unpaid & weekly paid must be done before extras
there is a bonus if some of the daily unpaid are done without me having to ask

I am happy to report that I didn't go crazy... and (by the grace of God) had a wonderful week with my kids. Chores got done and we had heaps of fun exploring New Zealand. In other news... Jonah is crawling.