When I crossed the finish line of my first triathlon I was pretty darn proud of myself. I had two goals. One, to not be last and two, to not seek medical attention.

 
I use this same kind of gauge towards parenting. One, did anyone need medical attention today? Two, did anyone catch on fire? If both of those answers are no then I am putting the day in the win column.

 
Do I still get frustrated when I ask my kiddos if they have brushed their teeth and the answer is ‘I forgot’. Jiminy Christmas. Are you kidding me? Every day. Twice a day. I’ll let the flossing slide, but dude…Every day for the last 12 years.

 
Ugh

 
I hear you. I shouldn’t be getting frustrated; this is my job as a mom – right? I know. I would say it’s a fifty-fifty split. Half the time I’m totally cool and all angelic ‘My Sweet Lovie, don’t forget to brush your teeth’. And the other half I’m a grumpy old troll who just can’t say it one more time. Seriously, let’s do the math…I’ll give you a free pass for the first 3 years of your life…leaving the past 9 years at twice a day, every day. Yup, over SIX THOUSAND times. I have said brush your teeth six thousand times. And you forgot. So great.

 
Ok, no more complaining, it’s time to find a solution.

 
I love check off lists. My dad introduced me to them when I was a kid. He let me check off something on his to-do list and it felt amazing. Check off lists are the bees-knees.

 
My kiddos have inherited this love from me & I am going to use this to my advantage.  (Just so we’re clear…My love of lists, not bee knees)

 
I made 3 check off sheets for each kiddo. One for the morning, one for after school and one for bed time. Each with pretty boxes to check & each with their names on them.

When I started, I would just print a set every day. That lasted only a couple days when I finally had the genius idea to laminate them. I punched a hole in the top & put them on a binder ring. Nice and big so they could wear it as a bracelet.

 
Eureka.

 
It works. They love taking their dry erase marker & their check off lists around the house to complete their tasks. They feel accomplished when they are all done & I didn’t have to yell. And I’m here to tell you, that makes everyone happy.

 
I’m currently working on a summer one, maybe something that allocates some time to lego build time or 20 minutes of writing? I guess I’m just in the brainstorm stages.

 
I wonder what else I can laminate? What would you put on a daily check off list for the kiddos? Anything you would do different for the summer?

 
Happy Laminating.

We should laminate everything