This week, my kids come down from their rooms with their beds made, clothes on, and ready for breakfast. I am not showing off! Just want to share what I wish someone had shared with me when I was living in morning chaos. You have to bribe these suckers!
First day of school cuties below!!! Could they fit more in their backpacks?!
Reward/bribe the kids for doing what they need to do with a chart to get
them into good habits. We started out calling it a superhero helper
list and after good patterns were established, we changed it up to be a
chore chart. When my son was 5-6 years old, he got tickets. Twenty tickets = an action figure he could "buy."
Over the years, the reward became allowance money for check marks, 25 cents per check. Periodically, a raise is rewarded. My daughter Gigi has always gotten allowance money because she is
the second child and, well, second, third, fourth, fifth kids get things
that the first never would. 
Now, I'm on a mission to get the kids to do laundry and cook a meal at least one night a week. Alright, laundry may be too ambitious. However, tonight David Dean is preparing nachos for dinner. Here comes a chaotic kitchen!
######
...Nachos were a hit! David's dad showed him how to grill the steak and cut up all the toppings. He said he liked the grill the best and wants to do hamburgers next week. It's a little Daddy/David grill time. Boys do love fire. See, bribery works!
