08.05.08

Summer Sleepaway Camp…The Kids are Back

Posted in Kid's Responsibilities at 12:06 pm by CreditMom

My 3 kids came home from summer sleepaway camp on Friday along with their 9 loads of laundry.  My 14 year old’s first statement was, “Mom, how are you going to do all this laundry?”  Without missing a beat I said, “I’m not, YOU are!”  That pretty much put an end to our blissful 4 weeks of relaxation while the kids were in summer camp.

After a month of a clean house, peace and harmony and dining out, my husband and I were quickly snapped back into reality with that one comment.  The twins, while in sleepaway camp, hadn’t slept in the same room in a month so they were already at each other’s throats and my 14 year old immediately became surgically attached to his Mac notebook.

We gave them the weekend to come down from their summer camp high and then we snapped them back into reality with a family meeting last night.  So here is the non-negotiable deal we presented to them.

Chores: Pretty simple: do your designated chores without prompting or you don’t get allowance.  If you don’t get allowance, then on the weekend, when you want to see that movie, there won’t be any money to see it. Oh and by the way, children’s chores do not consist of making beds and wiping down the toilet after use…those fall under responsibilities below.

Responsibilities: Also pretty simple: responsibilities come first, privileges come as a result of responsibilities. You didn’t clean up the kitchen, bathroom or family room?  Well, there’s no TV, no computer, no playing outside and certainly no video games until that’s done.  If you don’t bring your wallet with you, there are no purchases and the response to “but Mom I’ll pay you back when I get home” is “NO.”

Conservation: Leave the lights on or the water running and it’s 50c each offense.  It’s not a bottomless pit and our kids need to understand this.

As I re-read this post it seems pretty logical to me.  Now to enforce it.  Why can’t it ever be as easy at it sounds??? 

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