Whose Day Is It?

I guess this started about the time our younger daughter was old enough to talk…….a situation comes up during our day in which one of the following takes place: they have to take turns (who goes first?); a video can be chosen to watch; Mom needs a helper but can only handle one at the moment; who gets to sit by Daddy in the booth or at the table when we go out to eat? It would then fall to me to choose which one should go first or get the privilege over the other one.

I read this tip some place years ago and, after nearly reaching my wits’ end over the constant decision making and attempts to be fair, I decided to try putting it into practice. Since we only have the two children, I divided six days of the week between them. Monday, Wednesday and Friday are designated as my older daughter’s days; Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday are my younger daughter’s days. Anything that comes up during the day, be it a privilege, a first turn at something OR an extra chore that needs to be done, is assigned to the daughter whose day it is.

What about Sunday? Since most months have four Sundays, the first and third are my six-year old’s and the second and fourth are my eight-year old’s. If it’s a five Sunday month, the fifth Sunday is Mom’s and she gets to make all decisions without argument. How can you keep all that straight, you may ask? I really don’t have to – they police themselves quite well and usually already know when they get up in the morning whose day it is. Assigning responsibility and less refereeing – that works for me!!

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday.