Bewitching Book Tours Magazine October Edition

it won’t do any good to sling mud.

Good luck to you. Remember, there are no perfect people. You and your husband have spent a lot of time together. That should give you enough common ground to salvage your marriage if that’s what you want to do..

Dear Auntie Ann, I feel stupid writing to you about this, but it really bothers me. I can’t get my two kids who are ten and thirteen to lift a finger around the house. I’ve tried lists. I’ve tried rewards (and punishments). Nothing works and I end up picking up after them. If I didn’t, the house would be a disaster zone. What should I do?

A.D. Dear A.D. Consistency is the heart and soul of parenting. It’s also the hardest part. Start small. Give each child two chores that need to be done on a daily basis. Things like making their beds and hanging up their clothes. For each day they comply, great. No rewards needed. They’re functioning members of the family and need to know families support one another without getting anything special for their efforts. But for any day they don’t do those chores, they lose 24 hours of something they value dearly. Television, computer time (if they get a D or an F on their homework, it’s a natural consequence), or cell phone. Also, no friends can visit during that 24 hour period.

Plan on it taking at least six months for your kids to “get with the program”. As they do, you can add to their chore list. Eventually (after they grow up) they will thank you for helping them develop the self-discipline to tackle tasks they’d rather not do.