Gettin' Our Business Done

Mornings were getting too hectic around here. I mean, if it's hard to get out the door for 9am preschool, how will we ever get out the door for before the rooster when it comes time for elementary school? 

We needed a system. 

(Now you're gonna want to get your Pinterest buttons ready because this is PRETTY clever.) 

We call the things Leo has to do in the morning "his business." He has to "get his business done before he can have fun." There's even a little song to it. He has to go potty, put on his shoes and socks and brush his teeth. Once he completes those tasks he can watch the iPad until it's time to go to school. How fast he gets his business done determines how much iPad time he has. 

One day I asked him to do a couple extra things--put his sticker on his sticker chart, do a worksheet from school plus his three items of business. I needed to blow dry my hair so I couldn't remind him before every step. Instead, I drew it in a cute little to do list: 

I'm no artist but Leo got the picture. He LOVED it because he got to mark an "X" each time he finished a task. (He prefers X's to check marks because of the pirate connection, obviously.) So lately Leo's been getting his business done in record time! 

Gus is really happy about that, as you can see. Or really, he's just excited to be at Marble Slab. 

I do have something to say about Gus with regards to getting his business done. He is OBSESSED with brushing his teeth. He wants to do it about six times a day. He reaches towards his toothbrush (a new spin brush!) and says, "Ah Buh Tee" which means "I Brush Teeth" (not that anyone but his mommy would understand that). He cries when we take it away.

You might think this means Gus has awesome oral hygiene. It does not. I refer you to the sentence above that says "He is OBSESSED with brushing his teeth." I didn't say he was obsessed with having ME brush his teeth. He basically just sucks on the toothbrush. If it weren't for the spinning action, I don't think one of his teeth would get cleaned. But I like to think, that after six times a day, for five minutes each time, at least four are getting brushed. Right?

I don't have time to fight with him about it. I have crafty to-do lists to draw!