Teaching Kids With Systems

I've been reading The E Myth Revisited – Why most small businesses don't work and what to do about it, by Michael E. Gerber. It has a lot of great ideas in it although I don't like the format of the book. It's written as sort of a parable the same way The Peace Giver and The Gift and other such books are written. I find it very annoying but I try to look past it and learn what I can from them in spite of it.

One concept that really hit me while reading this book was using systems in business. McDonald's makes their hamburgers exactly the same way every time. No matter what McDonald's you go to you never have to wonder what you'll get. The food, the staff, everything is the same because of the great systems they have in place.

I started thinking how this applied outside of business. You know how much I love using systems in my home and family. I have my baby sleeping system, my potty training system and my teaching kids to work system, etc. They make my life easier and are especially useful in creating habits.

Never create a game for your people you're unwilling to play yourself. They'll
find you out and never let you forget it.

I thought that we could be utilizing systems even more in our home but we also need to create systems that everyone follows, even Mom and Dad. United we stand! First, Stranger and I sat down and discussed how we were going to implement this and then we had a meeting with the kids to teach it to them. Instead of Stranger and I creating the systems ourselves we decided to design them as a family so the kids would have as much a stake in them as we do.

The systems will be on a laminated card for everyone to check off as each item is completed. Everyone will know exactly what is expected of them and what to expect of everyone else. The systems are the same for everyone in the family and will be performed in the same order every time.

Does this whole thing sound too contrived? Does it sound like we are trying to raise little robots that can't think for themselves? I was concerned about that at first but now I think that instead of enslaving us, systems will give us more freedom. I'm having a difficult time articulating my feelings about it so I will write more another day. These are the systems we finished tonight.

The Going to Bed System

1. Pick up belongings around the house
2. Pick up bedroom
3. Potty
4. Wash hands
5. Brush and floss teeth
6. Throw clothes in the dirty clothes basket or hang them up if they're clean
7. Put on pajamas
8. Open window (to cool the house down at night)
9. Personal prayer
10. Read
11. Lights out

The Wake Up System

1. Wake up
2. Make bed
3. Personal prayer
4. Close window
5. Hang up pajamas
6. Get dressed
7. Comb hair
8. Personal scripture study

Every item on these lists was discussed extensively (trust me on this) and put in the order we all agreed on. If we didn't agree we voted and/or flipped a coin. We are going to try them for a few days before we make more systems for things like, feeding the animals, going to town, coming home, etc.

I will let you know how our new systems work out for us. Hopefully they will make things easier and less stressful for both the parents and the children. Who wouldn't want that?

If you want to try our systems or make your own I would love to hear about it. Maybe we could share ideas to make them work even better. If I never write about this again it will be because we were compete failures and too lazy to follow through which is highly likely.