Dream dinner

"Life is all about change and adapting to change."

-Sis. Packer

Yesterday was the last day of school and this means adapting our chore schedule.  Our kids will be expected to do more and in an effort to avoid the onslaught of whining, I made a game of adding responsiblities.  To kick of our summer, I made a bunch of tickets with a chore scribbled on each one.  (1. make your bed, 2. put your dirty clothes in the hamper...)  I made 13 of these cards so some big chores like "clean your room" were broken down into smaller jobs.  Why?  Because each chore ticket represented one topping or ingredient in an ice cream sundae.  I threw in some nasties too like Frank's Red Hot and Spicy Brown mustard so the kids never knew what ingredient they were working for.  They could reject any of the toppings they earned, but they could only have the ingredients they earned.  Kapeesh?  Can I just say that I've never seen my kids run around doing their chores as fast as they worked yesterday?  They scrubbed toilets, they vacuumed (didn't know they knew how!), they wiped their furniture, they RAN around like busy bees so they could be done by the time daddy got home.

I really think Wayne thought I lost my mind as I brought out all of the ingredients for our ice cream sundae dinner, esp. with the nasties included among the yummies.  Maybe I have lost it.  Oh well.  All I know is that it was great fun!  As I read off each ingredient, if the kids did the chore they got to say "yeah" or "nay" to the ingredient.  We had neopolitan ice cream, mint chip ice cream, hot fudge sauce, caramel sauce, choc. chip cookie chunks, M&M's, gummy bears, sugar cones, marshmallows, peppermint candy crumbs, cherries, strawberries, licorice, shredded coconut, slivered almonds, Reese's peanut butter cups,  bananas, Oreo's, whipped cream, cocktail sauce, Frank's Red Hot, green salsa, spicy brown mustard, and apple butter.

The kids loved their ice cream sundae dinner.  This also ended up being a lesson in nutrition because when it was time for bed we had hungry kiddos.  Apparently sugar dinner is a fleeting fancy.  We're going to do a twist on this dessert for FHE on Monday....check back.  It's going to be lots of fun.

FYI...this will NOT be our kids' motivation everyday.  I'm not THAT crazy.  We are fine-tuning our daily system for chores and activities.  We're all excited about it...details to come.