Job Jars

I know I'm not alone when I say that school mornings can be hectic - or any other morning that you have to be somewhere at a certain time, for that matter. I've been trying to think of something that will prompt my kids to do what they need to do without me having to tell them. 

Admittedly, I probably do to much for my kids.  They are definitely big enough now that I shouldn't have to tell them to eat breakfast, right?  Well, whether they are or not, I was inspired to make what I call a "job jar" yesterday. Let me preface by saying that my kids "jobs" or not hard. You will see what I mean below.  But, I still want them to learn to do what they need to do in the mornings without me having to ask or tell them to.  

Here's the idea.  When they wake up, they pick a popsicle stick out of their jar.  They promptly do what it says like Polyanna would all while smiling and singing Jesus Loves Me. Oh wait....that's in my dream. Okay, now I'm awake too.  So, they pick a stick and maybe they do what it says. If it says eat breakfast and they aren't hungry yet, that's okay, I can be flexible and they can pick another stick.  Point being, they complete all their "jobs" by the time we leave for school and I don't have to be running around telling them what to do. I like that and so do they.

Here are their "jobs:"

My personal favorite is "mom's choice."  This might be clean the playroom, put your shoes away, etc. It might even be give me a hug or have a piece of gum (you see, I'm crazy like that).  Oh yes, you must also know that my kids can't read (I'm sure have just lost all credibility since those are words on the popsicle sticks), but that is why they are color coded and, heh, I totally believe in word recognition. My four year old already has most of them memorized.  

So, we're going to give this a-go this week and I'll let you know how it goes. What do you do to keep your kids on task school mornings?