Brev’s post sticks his list of goals to get Muki↓

Everybody and their mother has told me that I must be insane to get a puppy when I already have so much chaos in my life but I disagree. I really can’t imagine raising three boys without ever giving them the opportunity to learn what it is like to take care of something that they can call their own.

The boys have no doubt that their daddy absolutely, unequivocally does not want a furry beast in our house to add to the mayhem and so I have enlisted their help to create a motivational chart of chores where they can record all of their hard earned work with the ultimate goal of raising 250 points, all for the love of Muki.

In providing this opportunity for them to succeed I have discovered the golden key to success. The points can only be obtained if they work collaboratively with each one helping the other to complete their task. They can get as many points as they want in a day and it does not matter what chores they choose and all of the points are based on an honor system. We also came up with a list of bad behavior that will work against them if they get an X.

Already, the boys have completely changed their attitudes and have been working their tails off, so to speak, to convince us that they will work hard once Muki arrives. “Yes mommy,” Axel says whenever I ask him to do something. “Did I just get an X?” Tucker asks after he has a little melt down over getting his shoes on.

The other night Brevitt was up late with me cleaning the kitchen and he said, “I feel so weird that I am helping you so much.” I agreed that it felt strange but wonderful that I had him as a companion to help me around the house.

I’m thinking that if we all whipped our children into shape the future will be filled with conscientious and capable adults who understand the importance of teamwork and helping others.

If a dog is not what you had in mind,  find something else that the kids will consider worth working for; a trip somewhere different, a massive sleepover, ice cream for breakfast for a week.

It is true that they are driving us crazy with their complete obsession with the chart but the benefits make up for all of the annoyances.

It was the other night, when I was like the walking dead after only five hours of sleep, that I truly realized that I had tapped into an incredible solution to my daily frustrations.

I told the boys that I needed to go to bed and watched as they bustled around me cleaning up the house before they retired with me. Tucker emerged from the bathroom with his pants down on his ankles and asked, “Which brudder wants to wipe my bottom?” and both Brevitt and Axel ran over to help him and get a point.

Now the most common question is what happens when Muki actually arrives on the scene in the spring? I guess the answer is that I will have to come up with more goals, as giving them an allowance causes fierce competitiveness and more fighting.

We’ll take each step as it comes but for now the house is a whole lot tidier and my workload has decreased significantly, making me a much happier mommy.