Checklists - Part 1

My children are 4 and 7. There are things that they can do for themselves. Do they do them? Not always. Does this cause strife (especially in the mornings). Yes, always.

Seeking some sanity and a way to streamline the process of training them to automatically do these things without constant prompting for the rest of their lives, I brought work home.

Domestic Issue:
Something needs to be done. Those who need to do it, know they need to do it, but rarely do it without prompting from mom or dad. When they actually DO do it, they forget all about how or what should be done and the wheel keeps being recreated, reinvented and otherwise re-re'red every time it needs to be done.

Corporate Solution:
Checklists. Anything that needs to be done over and over and over and over again, deserves a check list. It can be very simple or very complex, depending on the task.

Companies make checklists based on SOP's - Standard Operating Procedures. Every process and procedure has one and a checklist can be drawn out of it - and put into a cohesive, structured how-to list that will guide just about anyone through doing something the same way over and over and over and over again while consistently meeting expectations.

Corporately, you see checklists all over the place - the back of the bathroom door, the supply closet, the switchboard, on the manufacturing line, in the copy room. You might even find them tucked into an Executive's briefing folder to ensure a transaction occurs the same way, the "right" way - every time.

Domestic Bliss:
A checklist with things such as:

• Get Dressed



• Put dirty clothes in hamper.



• Put shoes on shoe rack.



• Hang up jacket and back pack.



• Pick up books.



• Bring dishes into kitchen.



• Etc.

has saved my sanity. After three weeks of executing the checklist, even my 4-year-old is starting to get it. She automatically puts her shoes on the rack and takes her laundry to the hamper so she can "check it off."

Every night, they review the list and add any checks they might have forgotten and if there are blank spaces - they take care of business. At the end of the week, I take a look at the lists and offer a small monetary reward - this is how they get an allowance.

Final Word/s:

• Our checklists, for younger children, include two spaces for Good Behavior and No Crying. This has worked wonders. When the tears (for no good reason) start - I just remind them that they'll lose their check for the day - and they almost always stop instantly.



• Because my youngest is not yet a reader, I added pictures to the checklist - so she can navigate it on her own. I am amazed by how quickly she has latched on to this.

This may be a loose take on "Standard Operating Procedures" - but it seems to be working and the whole point of bringing work home, in this case, was to help me find a way to get kids to do something in a standard way, day after day after day, and for that - I needed a tool - from work.