"State of the Morgans Address"

In honor of President Obama's State of the Union address (which I admit I didn't watch any of and instead sat through two mildly entertaining episodes of "Say Yes to the Dress") I thought it fitting that I should bring you up to date on the State of the Morgans.  In anticipation of this momentous occasion I looked back through my posts to reflect on where we came from.  As you may know, we were drowning under piles of socks and withering away from the lack of home cooked meals.  I was feeling overwhelmed, disorganized and in need of some sort of intervention and so I boldly embarked on this blogging adventure several months ago.

First up I took a look around and realized that I was a big part of the problem.  How could I expect my kids to have clean rooms when the side of the tub was my personal laundry basket and my nightstand was piled a foot high?  If I don't make my bed then why in the world should I expect my kids to?  I'd like to report that the tub problem is solved but it's not completely.  I AM more aware of it and try really hard to put my things away and my nightstand is better and I'd say I make my bed more than half the time now.  (Except--really, why do we need to make the bed when we are just going to sleep in it that night.  Or even better, climb in it later that day for a delicious nap?)  So baby steps there I suppose.

Next we moved onto setting up the new jar allowance system where the kids start out the month with $30 and every day their jobs aren't done or I find their messes around the house they lose a $1.  This has been going remarkably well lately.  Not necessarily because they are cleaning up their things but because I got two kid funded lunches at Baja Fresh this week!  I'm not making that up!  One of the kids asked me how many dollars they had lost so far and I said, "a lot."  But you know what?  He didn't whine or complain but instead seemed to accept it.  And then he cleaned his room.  They also have been doing their weekly jobs but I haven't used the hooks for a while.  Instead what seems to work best is for me to give each kid a Saturday job and post it on the inside of the front door.  So far so good.  I think what works best about this system--the jar one in particular--is that it is easy for me to monitor and  I'm motivated to do it--especially on those days when the taco cravings get bad.

Part 2 of getting organized was making and keeping a large wall calendar with all of our activities posted.  I'd mentioned previously that normally I start that every September and by December the calendar is blank because I've lost the gumption to continue.  Yep--that about sums up my efforts this time and I realized something.  I hate making that calendar!  It hangs over my head like an evil task masker and makes me feel guilty when I look at it.  Besides, in this day and age, all my appointments go in my phone anyway so I threw out the wall calendar and I feel pretty good about it.  Only took me about 10 years to figure that out...

Up next was cooking.  Like meals.  It's a serious flaw in my homemaking skills.  I keep thinking that if I keep "pinning" yummy recipes and trying new things that I'll learn to enjoy it.  Not so much.  But I am trying to cook at least three real meals a week and I've given myself permission to not feel bad when the rest of the nights are leftovers or YOYO nights.  I will say this--I did find a pretty sweet new app that makes finding recipes, planning your meals and making a grocery list super easy and it's free!  Look up "Big Oven" if you are interested.  So yeah--I'm not going to be the next Betty Crocker.

Moles.  Ok--this wasn't really part of the plan but did involve a blog post last summer.  I'm sad to report that a new mole has moved in and is in the process of doing some serious redecorating.  Stinkin' moles...

So as you can see, on all those fronts I haven't made tremendous progress.  I mean, some things are doing better but truth be told, my house doesn't look like it came out of a magazine, my laundry room still looks like a small bomb went off more times than not and instead of goldfish boxes laying around it's now empty packages of Chips Ahoy thanks to a good sale and even better coupon.  But I will say this--the second reason for me starting this blog was to document how I can help my children be more resilient and self reliant.  Most of you know that this last year has been a hard one for our family and honestly, there were days when I felt like I had absolutely no idea what I was doing anymore as a mother.  But with a lot of prayer, and pondering, and reading and learning I can honestly say that we have seen significant changes here.  I've learned to not let my kid's emotions rule my own emotions but instead I concentrate on being their "constant."  I've stepped back and allowed my children the chance to fail--and then watched as they pick themselves up.  We've given them more responsibility and they have risen to the challenge.  They've grown and stretched and made a few mistakes but they've had a whole lot more successes.  We are trusting them more and trusting our Savior more than ever.  And with all that comes what I've been seeking along.  Not a clean house, or family dinner every night, but peace.  The peace that comes from knowing that we're really just doing the best we can--not doing things perfectly, but just our best.