This brilliant idea is courtesy of my friend, Sara Sawaya. It has helped with our wailing and warring ways here in the Hobbs home! I have four sons—four bruisers, each with their own feisty personality. We have a mix of introversion and extroversion, some impulsivity and some anxiety.The one thing they all have in common is an incredible stamina for roughhousing and arguing. With all of the serious testosterone brooding in this house, we have a lot of fights. Yes we have taught the boys the song Love At Home. Yes we read scriptures as a family. Yes we try to praise each child, pray together, encourage service in and outside the home, but yes we still have a LOT of fights. If there is one thing that eases the tension more than anything else, it's Boss of the Week. |
Every Sunday, we rotate to a new Boss of the Week, going in order from youngest to oldest. The Boss of the Week makes all kid-decisions for the family: what CD to listen to at night (relaxing music or book on CD), what movie to watch for family movie night, what games to play, what music to listen to in the car, where to eat out, what to make for family treat, and on and on.
The Boss of the Week is also the Helper of the Week. They set the table and make the veggie for dinner, they help buckle the baby in his carseat, they turn the key in the ignition (when I let them), and on and on. The boys are fiercely good at keeping track of who is the current boss, and they are pretty good about respecting the boss since they know their turn will be coming soon.
So try it out and let me know how it works for you. And of course if you have any ideas to share for keeping the peace, leave a comment. We're in this together!
The Boss of the Week is also the Helper of the Week. They set the table and make the veggie for dinner, they help buckle the baby in his carseat, they turn the key in the ignition (when I let them), and on and on. The boys are fiercely good at keeping track of who is the current boss, and they are pretty good about respecting the boss since they know their turn will be coming soon.
So try it out and let me know how it works for you. And of course if you have any ideas to share for keeping the peace, leave a comment. We're in this together!