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This Thanksgiving, we’re spending time with family, enjoying each other’s company. My children will be playing with their cousins, enjoying lots of good meals, and taking a break from school. But it’s hard work getting ready for a trip: making the lists, running errands, washing the clothes and sorting through them, cleaning up the house, and getting the pets settled for someone to care for them. It often seems as if the kids don’t appreciate all the effort it takes to provide them with a nice holiday time. Rarely does anyone ever say, “Thanks, Mom, for getting us ready to go.”

Sometimes I wonder how my children will learn to be grateful. They need this, they want that, and they want it right now! But there must be a better way then giving them lecture…after lecture…after lecture.

Then I wondered, how often do I thank them? Did I thank Cassie for spending extra time cleaning the bathroom and scrubbing the craft paint off the cabinet door of the sink? Did I thank Lillie for helping Luke choose which toys he wanted to bring along? Did I thank John for running to his Grandma’s house to borrow some eggs for breakfast? I thank my friends for favors they do for me, but I don’t often thank my husband or children. Perhaps the things we do around the house are expected or required, but it’s still nice when someone appreciates it.

Instead of just telling them to be thankful, I need to show them by example. They need to see me with a thankful attitude. I need to appreciate them not only for what they do, but for who they are. And they need to hear me thanking every day God for all He has given us, not fussing about the things we lack.

They need to see me with a heart of gratitude.

Since I’ve been a stay-at-home mom, most of our household chores have followed the traditional division of labor – I clean the house, fix the meals, and wash the dishes while my husband mows the yard and makes minor repairs around the home. Because he’s busy with work during our school year, most all of the homeschool responsibilities fall on me as well. I bring him in as principal when I need to, but generally, I do all the teaching. 

This past month we’ve had to change all that. I had a project commitment that was due at the end of June, and it was taking all my extra time to finish it up. Fortunately, my husband had some time off – he could take care of the things I couldn’t do. And he did! 

It’s been a good month, with a lot of quality time for Dad and the children. He took them everywhere I would have taken them – to the pool to swim, to the free summer movies, to music lessons, to friends’ homes to play. He listened to them read aloud and made sure the rest of their schoolwork was completed. He also took on one major household chore: the laundry. He washed, dried, and folded the clothes all month, enlisting the kids to help him with the process. He streamlined my system, making it easier and more efficient. 

What my husband learned: it’s fun doing things with the children, and relationships are strengthened when they spend time together. What I learned: Dad can do it!  He can help with school, run errands, and clean the house. He might even come up with better ways of doing things, making the chores easier for me when I take them over again. But now that I know, I might not take them all back. I think I’ll leave the laundry for him.

Ask any of my kids, and they’ll tell you I’m a list-maker. I make lists for chores, lists for weekly activities, lists for daily activities, lists of items that need to be done, budgeting lists, and lists for schoolwork. I have my weekly, yearly, and 5-year goals written up in lists. My lists are on the fridge, on the bulletin board, and in the school notebooks. I am constantly revising and updating my lists – I think I even have lists about my lists.

If you like using lists as well, check out ChartJungle.com . Wendy Shepherd, the author of the site, has created free printables to help you get things organized. Not only will you find free calendars and charts for schedules and chores, but you’ll also find printables to help you with your money, your car, your weight loss goals, your health, your holiday activities, and much more. For the totally committed list-maker, there are even charts for recording the times you changed your baby’s diapers, when you had a reaction to an immunization, and when your child was nice to his sister.

ChartJungle also offers lists to help get your homeschool organized. You’ll find reading lists, report cards, number lines, graph paper, diplomas, and word lists. My favorites have been the school year calendars, which I use to record our school days and attendance.

The free newsletter is another nice feature of this site. After you sign up, you’ll receive periodic emails about the latest charts that have been added to ChartJungle. With so many charts available, it’s a good way to keep up with the changes without having to search the site. 

If you’re looking for ways to re-organize before the next school year, be sure to check out this site. If you can think of it, there’s probably a chart for it.