I am sure this is terribly idealistic.
If you have teenagers, you know how they can turn into summer slugs, never seeing the light of day, holed up in their dens of entertainment. Erratic sleep cycles. Endless naps. Plugged in.
The
recent youth conference expanded on the theme of un-plugging. I love this goal, and the determination to live, and not lull our lives away. It's not just laziness, but dependency on media that wastes time. I love my computer and blog reading, but the goal is to make sure I've done the minimum 6 things each day, too. Reading, praying, and serving.
Chore charts, work reward calendars...we haven't tried any for awhile. The goal is to get my household of tweens and teenagers to be more social, learn new skills, do some work, but mostly to INTERACT with each other. This is a checklist, with spaces to write in the MINUTES our children work on each thing, earning time to play solo computer games. If they are watching a movie together, that counts as social time. I want them to create a community, a family identity, eventually not needing the checklist, just doing good all the time and finding their own balance of real living and achieving good goals (not just a personal best score in a game...).
The list of "Mom's Special Jobs" include things like building a tree house, inventorying my fabrics and paints, keeping outside plants watered, bleach projects, moss graffiti, drawing lessons, painting downstairs bathroom, painting back porch!
We will see how this works, and how it morphs over the 12 weeks of summer.
Minimum A Day to EARN 1st hour computer time:
1. beautify home/world: make bed, clean floor S M T W Th F S
2. read Book of Mormon on own 15 minutes S M T W Th F S
3. praying: AM/PM/MEALS S M T W Th F S
4. do daily HOUSE CHORE S M T W Th F S (this is a rotating list of dishes, garbage, emptying recyclables, every day stuff)
5. exercise 20 minutes M T W Th F S
6. write in journal/blog/email parents S M T W Th F S (if they don't want to journal, they can email me a letter about their day, and I will start keeping their electronic history for them!)
Extras:
babysitting ___S ___ M ___ T ___ W ___Th ___F ___ S
cooking or sewing lessons___S ___ M ___ T ___ W ___Th ___F ___ S
cooking family meals___S ___ M ___ T ___ W ___Th ___F ___ S
craft project ___ M ___ T ___ W ___Th ___F ___ S
dancing___S ___ M ___ T ___ W ___Th ___F ___ S
Grandpa John work ___ M ___ T ___ W ___Th ___F ___ S
magnify talent___S ___ M ___ T ___ W ___Th ___F ___ S
Mom Special Jobs ___ M ___ T ___ W ___Th ___F ___ S
more exercise ___ M ___ T ___ W ___Th ___F ___ S
mow lawn ___ M ___ T ___ W ___Th ___F ___ S
NAME EXTRACTION___S ___ M ___ T ___ W ___Th ___F ___ S
personal history-scrapbook __S __ M __T ___W ___Th ___F ___S
piano practice___S ___ M ___ T ___ W ___Th ___F ___ S
picking up sticks in backyard ___ M ___ T ___ W ___Th ___F ___ S
pull weeds in garden ___ M ___ T ___ W ___Th ___F ___ S
pulling ivy off of bricks ___ M ___ T ___ W ___Th ___F ___ S
read history book___S ___ M ___ T ___ W ___Th ___F ___ S
read a classic___S ___ M ___ T ___ W ___Th ___F ___ S
read General Conference Talk ___S ___M ___T ___W ___Th __F___ S
read Church magazine___S ___ M ___ T ___ W ___Th ___F ___ S
scrub downstairs bathroom ___ M ___ T ___ W ___Th ___F ___ S
scrub upstairs bathroom ___ M ___ T ___ W ___Th ___F ___ S
study Preach My Gospel___S ___ M ___ T ___ W ___Th ___F ___ S
sweep back porch/sidewalk ___ M ___ T ___ W ___Th ___F ___ S
sweep front sidewalk ___ M ___ T ___ W ___Th ___F ___ S
sweep & mop KITCHEN floor ___ M ___ T ___ W ___Th ___F ___ S
sweep/mop seminary floor ___ M ___ T ___ W ___Th ___F ___ S
sweep stairs going downstairs ___ M ___ T ___ W ___Th ___F ___ S
volunteer work in community ___ M ___ T ___ W ___Th ___F ___ S
write letter to missionaries___S ___ M ___T___ W ___Th ___F ___ S
write or research family history___S __M __T ___ W ___Th __F ___ S
___________________________S __M __T ___ W ___Th __F ___ S
___________________________S __M __T ___ W ___Th __F ___ S
photo credit: (Deb Koehler, sister who picked up Elder L from airport and delivered him to MTC) 
