Pre-SUMMER Expecations!

Yep I just went from Valentine's Day to Summer!  For Real! I have slacked on my blog.  Totally bums me out but I I have to move on.  This summer has gone GREAT! To be 100% honest about 4 weeks before school got out I started having anxiety. I never have anxiety! However, I did and I had to realized why I was having it.  I realized I was nervous about having the boys home FULL TIME...I was nervous that they would aggravate, taunt, torment, and bother each other. I was also nervous that I would spend the entire summer picking up after the boys and their continual messes.  The love each other but they are brothers that are 5 years apart. Will LOVES and ADORES Zach and does not give Zach his required space.  This creates a lot of issues.  After 2 days of thought and searching online for way to eliminate my anxiety. I came up with summer rules, chore charts, and a game plan.  To introduce the rules and chores I thought it would be fun to have a Summer Dinner.  Do not be fooled....the boys were excited when they saw our dinner but not happy about the chore chart. What I thought was going to be fun turned out to be a meal of tears and sadness.  After we got through the rules we did a Bucket List. The boys like this and their attitudes quickly changed.  I know there is much controversy on Bucket Lists but for our ages and stages it was a must.  We did not put anything on our list...that we would not already plan on doing.  Nothing too expensive or outrageous.  Our list was strictly an outline of things to do together. A common goal for our family.  Our biggest risk was the ice cream man. HA!

A lot of people do not realize that I do about 20 hours of work for my husbands office each week....from home. Nothing really difficult but I have become accustomed to doing this work: Phone calls, Facebook Updates, Accounts Payable, marketing, etc while our 2 year old sleeps and the 7 year old is at school. I knew we needed to have a plan for us to have FUN but also be able to have days at home to get work done.  I HAVE NO IDEA HOW MY FRIENDS WORK FROM HOME (FULL-TIME) WITH THEIR KIDS AT HOME!  I created an "I'm Bored" jar for days that I work from home.  The funny thing is it's July 8th and it hasn't been opened yet.  I'm glad I have it for back up just in case.

Introduction to Summer Dinner!  Will and I set the table and made the cupcakes while Zach was at school.  As soon as I put the cupcakes on the table I looked over and Will was sitting there with his fork...waiting to eat. 

Summer Rules

 Daily Schedule

 Chore List....This has been amazing!  The boys know that we do not leave the house until the chores are done.  They know what they are required to do and what days they are to do them.  Best idea for my sanity yet!

 This picture was taken right before Zach broke out in tears.

 Let the fun begin. Zach started the Bucket List

 Will finished the bucket list. HA!

This was our first year outlining the summer plans and summer expectations.  My anxiety is gone and we have totally enjoyed every moment this summer.  My type A personality needed a plan and this worked for us!