Lest my previous post about our allowance strategy lead anyone to think that I have my shit together, I am posting today about how I often struggle to stick with things.

Earlier this year we started doing gratitude journaling at dinnertime. It was easy, it took about thirty seconds, and all I had to do was remember to get the pens and journals out as I was setting the table. This lasted for maybe three months, and now the journals are abandoned somewhere on the art cabinet, buried beneath many hand-drawn diagrams of the kids’ extensive Minecraft plans.

My big plan for this summer was to teach the kids to type. I mean my big plan was for Mavis Beacon to teach them how to type. I don’t understand why they haven’t learned to type in school, but I figured just ten minutes per day in the summer would get them a solid foundation at least. But between our ten-day vacation in June, our whole week at the cabin in July, two full weeks of camps that same month, and then tonsillectomy at the beginning of August they have barely done any typing. The few weeks when we did it consistently were very successful, but now I’m staring down the last week of summer and wondering if it’s even worth it to start them back up on this project.

My hobbies suffer from this same lack of consistent interest and care. I’ll read five books in one month, and then go two without reading a single book. I love playing the piano but will play for hours over the course of one week, and then let the keys collect dust for the next six weeks.

I think the only things I can keep up with consistently are the things I have to keep up with. There are serious consequences if I don’t feed the kids every night. There are very fragrant consequences if I don’t do the cat litter every day.

I wish I could be more consistent. My friend sent me a bunch of information about getting kids to contribute to the household without chore charts and nagging. It looks like a really good idea, a good system. But… can I keep it up consistently? I know how I am. We’re going to have one busy day that saps my bandwidth and the system will crash down around me as I straighten the shoes and wipe down the table myself.

Is it worth it to even try to do these things if I know I can’t stick with it?