Ezine86

New Contests

Visit our contest page to enter two new contests!

a COLORFUL, magnetic responsibility board for your child
book entitled "Mothers Need Time-Outs Too" written by three moms!

Meal Planning

Monthly Menu Planner
Save yourself from the nightly dinner dilemna by using the Monthly Menu Planner to plan a month's worth of dinners. Visit our meal planning page to read more about the Monthly Menu Planner and how to use it.

Want to see a sample Monthly Menu Planner?

Get it here!

Blank Monthly Menu Planner
I've created a blank Monthly Menu Planner to get you started. This chart will help you create your own monthly dinner plan. Print it off, plug in your meals and get started today!

Get it here!

What About Those Routines?

What's your nightly bedtime routine? If you have small children, it probably starts somewhere around 8:00 p.m. when you prepare the little ones for bed. If you have teenagers, it might be later in the evening when the routine begins. In our family, we are working hard at being consistent with our youngest because he is dependent on us to help him stay healthy and well rested. We spend about 30 minutes on the bedtime routine with him each night. He gets his pajamas on, goes potty, we brush and floss his teeth, he does a flouride rinse on his teeth, we read a book, pray for him, and tuck him into bed. He is seven years old and we aim to have him in bed and asleep around 8:30 p.m. This means we need to start the bedtime routine around 8:00 p.m.

We also have teenagers, who go to bed later than the seven year old, so we enjoy spending time as a family in the evenings. Everyone has their routine, whether it be taking out contacts, washing faces, taking showers, preparing clothes and schoolwork and lunches for the next day. It takes concentrated effort as a parent to be sure everyone is taking care of themselves and the details of life. This is why routines can be so helpful.

Whether planned or not, every family has routines. Think for a moment about the routines you've established in your family. How are they working? Do you need to make any adjustments? If there are problem areas, discuss them with your family and come up with some solutions to make things flow more smoothly.

Click here to read more about morning routines

Mom, You Don't Have to Do It All!
A little planning goes a long way

These past two weeks, I tried something new. I'm not sure if there is anyone else who's been in my shoes, but I would venture to guess there is.

I started a new job in November and had yet to transition to the new schedule. I'm working an hour longer each day, which you'd think wouldn't make that much difference, but it does. I was coming home tired and unmotivated about cooking dinner. But I would plod through the chore each night anyway, some nights letting convenience rule my actions and making easy and less nutritious meals. In addition, my husband started a new job two weeks ago. With all the changes happening in our family, I knew change was needed in the area of meal prep.

So...I decided to include our two oldest children in the meal process each night. "Just having them get the process started could make a big difference," I thought.

I took time on the weekend to type up the plan for the week, including more specific steps so it would be easy for them. I precooked ground beef for the recipes and assigned two nights to our daughter (15) and two nights to our son (almost a teen). I then went over the plan with both of them and answered questions. I told them that if they started at 5:00 each night and only got through the first few steps in the process before I got home, it would help tremendously. We also reminded our youngest that his chore was to set the table each night before dinner.

Guess what happened? Do you think the plan worked? It did! And not only were the first few steps complete when I got home, dinner was practically ready (short of adding a vegetable to the meal or providing a taste test for minor adjustments). My son's beef stroganoff tasted better than mine! One night, I called home at 5:00 and told my daughter it was fine if she wanted to reheat leftovers from the previous night. "But, Mom," she said "I was really looking forward to fixing dinner tonight!" "No problem, go ahead and fix dinner" was my response. When I got home, dinner was ready! And when we finished at the dinner table that night, I gladly cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher. Seemed like a fair trade to me.

I am just so thrilled that they are enjoying meal prep and contributing to the success of this routine in our household. I have a typed up plan for two weeks and am going for a third! It's been encouraging and has motivated me once again about dinner in our household. I plan to pull a couple of the recipes from our MyOnlineMeals notebook to incorporate into the plan this week. The kids have already asked me "What's for dinner this week, Mom?!"

What's the next step for you? Do you need to involve your family in the meal planning and preparation? If you have young children, consider simple things they can help with that will take the pressure off and, at the same time, train them in important life skills. Even a toddler can walk around a table and place napkins at each person's spot.

You don't have to do it all yourself! So ask for help and see what happens!

Click here to visit our Meal Planning page

More Free Chore Charts at SFC

Need a goal chart, but don't know where to start? Print out our Blank Chore Chart and fill it in to get started!

Get it here!

Visit our Chore Charts page to get more free charts!

Chore Charts

Resources

Ready to ditch the diapers? ~ PottyTrainingTips.com

Great site for teaching kids money management ~ Prosperity4Kids

Great tips and advice for working moms ~ Blue Suit Mom

In a rut with meal planning? ~ MyOnlineMeals.com

Looking for smart ways to save money? 1 Frugal Friend 2 Another

Visit our Resources Page for more great resources!

Until Next Time...

Hope you have a great month full of FUN and ENERGY!

Andrea Simanson

SFC Website and Ezine Editor
Successful Family Chores

New to Successful Family Chores?

If someone forwarded this newsletter to you, you can sign up to receive it for FREE by clicking here!

Help put fun and energy into someone else's day by forwarding this newsletter to them and encouraging them to sign up for their free subscription!

If you no longer wish to receive this publication, unsubscribe here.

You are receiving this email from Successful Family Chores because you subscribed on our website. To ensure that you continue to receive emails from us, please add asimanson@successfulfamilychores.com to your address book. You can view this newsletter on the web by clicking on this link: Read this newsletter at the SFC website!
Putting FUN and ENERGY into everyday tasks!
	Chore Tips
In This Issue April 2008 Chore Tip Announcement - Watch out for the Spam! New Contests Meal Planning What About Those Routines? Mom, You Don't Have to Do It All! More Free Charts Resources Watch out for the Spam! Successful Family Chores is committed to bringing you quality website content and newsletters. Unfortunately, there are people out there who misuse information. Someone has been sending out spam email using what appears to be our SFC email address. Please be informed that those emails ARE NOT coming from SFC. We will never send solicitations or ask you for information via an email. We will only send our SFC newsletter and it is also available online at http://www.successfulfamilychores.com. Thank you for your continued support of our website. We appreciate our subscribers! Visit our website New Contests Visit our contest page to enter two new contests! Sign up to win: a COLORFUL, magnetic responsibility board for your child book entitled "Mothers Need Time-Outs Too" written by three moms! Click here to go to Contest Page Meal Planning Monthly Menu Planner Save yourself from the nightly dinner dilemna by using the Monthly Menu Planner to plan a month's worth of dinners. Visit our meal planning page to read more about the Monthly Menu Planner and how to use it. Want to see a sample Monthly Menu Planner? Get it here! Blank Monthly Menu Planner I've created a blank Monthly Menu Planner to get you started. This chart will help you create your own monthly dinner plan. Print it off, plug in your meals and get started today! Get it here! What About Those Routines? What's your nightly bedtime routine? If you have small children, it probably starts somewhere around 8:00 p.m. when you prepare the little ones for bed. If you have teenagers, it might be later in the evening when the routine begins. In our family, we are working hard at being consistent with our youngest because he is dependent on us to help him stay healthy and well rested. We spend about 30 minutes on the bedtime routine with him each night. He gets his pajamas on, goes potty, we brush and floss his teeth, he does a flouride rinse on his teeth, we read a book, pray for him, and tuck him into bed. He is seven years old and we aim to have him in bed and asleep around 8:30 p.m. This means we need to start the bedtime routine around 8:00 p.m. We also have teenagers, who go to bed later than the seven year old, so we enjoy spending time as a family in the evenings. Everyone has their routine, whether it be taking out contacts, washing faces, taking showers, preparing clothes and schoolwork and lunches for the next day. It takes concentrated effort as a parent to be sure everyone is taking care of themselves and the details of life. This is why routines can be so helpful. Whether planned or not, every family has routines. Think for a moment about the routines you've established in your family. How are they working? Do you need to make any adjustments? If there are problem areas, discuss them with your family and come up with some solutions to make things flow more smoothly. Click here to read more about morning routines Mom, You Don't Have to Do It All! A little planning goes a long way These past two weeks, I tried something new. I'm not sure if there is anyone else who's been in my shoes, but I would venture to guess there is. I started a new job in November and had yet to transition to the new schedule. I'm working an hour longer each day, which you'd think wouldn't make that much difference, but it does. I was coming home tired and unmotivated about cooking dinner. But I would plod through the chore each night anyway, some nights letting convenience rule my actions and making easy and less nutritious meals. In addition, my husband started a new job two weeks ago. With all the changes happening in our family, I knew change was needed in the area of meal prep. So...I decided to include our two oldest children in the meal process each night. "Just having them get the process started could make a big difference," I thought. I took time on the weekend to type up the plan for the week, including more specific steps so it would be easy for them. I precooked ground beef for the recipes and assigned two nights to our daughter (15) and two nights to our son (almost a teen). I then went over the plan with both of them and answered questions. I told them that if they started at 5:00 each night and only got through the first few steps in the process before I got home, it would help tremendously. We also reminded our youngest that his chore was to set the table each night before dinner. Guess what happened? Do you think the plan worked? It did! And not only were the first few steps complete when I got home, dinner was practically ready (short of adding a vegetable to the meal or providing a taste test for minor adjustments). My son's beef stroganoff tasted better than mine! One night, I called home at 5:00 and told my daughter it was fine if she wanted to reheat leftovers from the previous night. "But, Mom," she said "I was really looking forward to fixing dinner tonight!" "No problem, go ahead and fix dinner" was my response. When I got home, dinner was ready! And when we finished at the dinner table that night, I gladly cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher. Seemed like a fair trade to me. I am just so thrilled that they are enjoying meal prep and contributing to the success of this routine in our household. I have a typed up plan for two weeks and am going for a third! It's been encouraging and has motivated me once again about dinner in our household. I plan to pull a couple of the recipes from our MyOnlineMeals notebook to incorporate into the plan this week. The kids have already asked me "What's for dinner this week, Mom?!" What's the next step for you? Do you need to involve your family in the meal planning and preparation? If you have young children, consider simple things they can help with that will take the pressure off and, at the same time, train them in important life skills. Even a toddler can walk around a table and place napkins at each person's spot. You don't have to do it all yourself! So ask for help and see what happens! Click here to visit our Meal Planning page More Free Chore Charts at SFC Need a goal chart, but don't know where to start? Print out our Blank Chore Chart and fill it in to get started! Get it here! Visit our Chore Charts page to get more free charts! Chore Charts Resources Ready to ditch the diapers? ~ PottyTrainingTips.com Great site for teaching kids money management ~ Prosperity4Kids Great tips and advice for working moms ~ Blue Suit Mom In a rut with meal planning? ~ MyOnlineMeals.com Looking for smart ways to save money? 1 Frugal Friend 2 Another Visit our Resources Page for more great resources! Until Next Time... Hope you have a great month full of FUN and ENERGY! Andrea Simanson SFC Website and Ezine Editor Successful Family Chores New to Successful Family Chores? If someone forwarded this newsletter to you, you can sign up to receive it for FREE by clicking here! Help put fun and energy into someone else's day by forwarding this newsletter to them and encouraging them to sign up for their free subscription! If you no longer wish to receive this publication, unsubscribe here.	Chore Tip Skip the chores and spend time just enjoying each other. Take a walk, go get ice cream, read a book or watch a movie! The laundry can wait until tomorrow. More Chore Tips! More at Successful Family Chores! Chore Charts Chore Tips Family Fun Meal Planning Parenting Article Page Newsletter Resources aStore Other Great Resources! What's for Dinner? After School Snacks Food Allergy Resources Prosperity4Kids
Website: http://www.successfulfamilychores.com
DISCLAIMER Successful Family Chores cannot guarantee the legitimacy and validity of any ads. Successful Family Chores disclaims any responsibility or liability arising out of or relating to any item listed including: 1) the legality of the ad or offer, 2) the performance or conduct of the advertise or merchant, and 3) any damages or injury that may result from the ad or offer listed. We are working to strictly adhere to the Federal Trade Commission guidelines and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. This information and/or site should not be used by anyone under the age of 18years. You advertise or respond to the ads at your own risk. Publishers and advertisers may review these guidelines at http://www.ftc.gov All articles have been selected for their content. The publishing of those articles in our newsletter does not constitute a recommendation of the products or services mentioned or advertised within those articles. Be responsible! Always do your own due diligence before responding to any offer. We respect your privacy and will not sell your personal information to any other entity. No part of this Publication may be copied or reproduced without the prior written consent of the owner. Copyright Â© Successful Family Chores 2003-2008