Coast Crew

So we're having our annual major winter storm and power outage this weekend! Power went off about 5am and it looks like it will be several days before the coast has power again....so we are in Ukiah until it's back on. Hope the fish survive. : -)

Crazy, huh? Our wood pile got knocked over by the rain and got soaked so we didn't even have a way to keep our house warm. We thought it would be better to come over here since the roads were open.

For our jobs we have "morning jobs" which are the getting ready for the day stuff (make bed, etc). We also have daily jobs, which vary and are on a schedule. The kids chose what they'd be responsible for and I decided how often and what days. It's been working fairly well, although this month they've been spoiled by visiting Grandmas who choose to do the work themselves (and so now they are much poutier when I remind them about their jobs). Their daily jobs include: taking out the recycling, emptying dishwasher, clearing table, various pick-up jobs in the family room, feed pets, clean kitty litter, etc. I just made a list of other things that are not individually assigned and came up with a fair amount that they can do to earn money.

I don't think I give Logan enough work to do, but he needs someone working with him. Right now I am just in such a hurry to squeeze something in while Kenna is sleeping or happy that I've put that on a back burner for now.

Speaking of Kenna - she only woke up once last night! It was a beautiful thing. : -)

Attitude discipline is the TOUGHEST thing because really it's just your word against theirs that they were rude/sassy/grumpy. Hannah has pulled me into SO many arguments.... "I was not saying it like that!" I am just now learning how to deal with that better. It helps if I say "I don't think that was a good way to say that." She can't argue with my opinion! And then I will say what she said with a more positive tone of voice. I've told Hannah it's not WHAT she's saying, it's usually HOW she says it. If I accuse her of something, she gets defensive, so that never works. It's a never-ending process here, but at least with Hannah, the more time I take to explain things, the better the outcome. I just have to slow down and be specific. It's one of my hardest challenges as a mother! What I really should be doing is telling her when she responds appropriately and thank her. The same process works with Brynne, but she reacts differently and doesn't argue - just bursts into tears or something. Ahhhhh, children. so fun sometimes!

Josh read me a great quote the other day that said that children should be chastized in private and praised in public. We thought we might try to remember to do that more.