A Little Method to the Madness

The Breakfast and Books Edition

Books:

1. We have a big ole' red plastic crate where all our library books go (we check out up to twenty at a time, you see, so a good-size crate is necessary). We use the crate to tote our books back and forth to the library and it serves as their "home" while the books are at our house.  The children are permitted to read the library books at any time, but can only take out one at a time and are only supposed to read them in the living room or in the book nook in the dining room. (We've had emergency library book hunts, however, where AWOL books have finally been located under the mattress in a child's room, or in the back seat of the car... Yikes.)

2.  In addition to the library books, we have several bookcases full of our own books, not to mention bins and bins of books still in the barn waiting for us to build a library addition onto the house...  So, lots of books around here.  It's been my life's work (well, one of them, anyway) to teach the children to respect our books: to care for them, to love them, to leave them as they found them.  Theoretically, the children are supposed to have clean hands before they touch a book, and they are not supposed to have the books near food or drinks.  Theoretically they're supposed to have no more than two books out of the bookshelves at a time,which they're supposed to replace before they get any more.  Theoretically. 

We've learned, however, through many years of fighting the children's forgetfulness of these rules that (unless they're borrowed books), it's not worth the headache to enforce them in a detention school fashion.  Seriously.  How can I complain because my teenagers can't eat without a book propped up in front of them?    Is it really such a bad thing, I ask myself, to have toddlers sprawled all over the floor in the middle of a puddle of picture books?  We do pick up all the books when we clean up the house (a house cleaning edition of "Madness" coming soon, btw...), and we do still caution the children to be careful of the books we own, but we don't obsess about them.  It's more important that the kids know that books are friends that they can be comfortable with -- and not be afraid to snuggle up with.  And occasionally spill coffee on.

Breakfast:

3.  We have a pantry in the kitchen full of low sugar cereal, oatmeal, grits, bagels, and toast, and a fridge full of milk, eggs, cream cheese, butter, and jams -- all easily accessible.  And I believe that the first independent thing a child should learn to do is to make his own breakfast.   First of all, it develops independence and an early sense of accomplishment.  Secondly, the simple act of preparing one's own repast in the morning stimulates the brain cells, sharpens the senses, and flexes the muscles.  It cannot be denied that our older children helping our younger children prepare breakfast fosters sibling unity, promotes the virtue of generosity and develops a nurturing spirit. Finally, though, and most importantly, it gives Mom a break in the morning.  (Heaven knows, Moms have enough on their plates!)  Children making their own breakfast.  It's a good thing.

4.  And there's this: Whoever is the last one up at our house has to clean up all the breakfast dishes.  Works marvelously to either get everyone up early, or to get the dishes cleaned up without complaint. You'll occasionally have two sleepyhead teenagers scrambling for the stairs in a loud and groggy attempt to be the next-to-last person down the stairs, of course.  But, it's high entertainment for the rest of the family watching to see who emerges victorious -- and who has to clean the kitchen. 

5.  Also, whenever possible, I coordinate the color of my coffee cup with the outfit I'm wearing.  Makes me feel on top of things in the morning.  (Whatever it takes, ya know?)


Do you have any Books or Breakfast tips to share?  Whatever we can do to improve efficiency or fun, we're up for it!