The Lesson of the Ice Pops

I've been a little negligent about posting the last few days. I'm still working on developing our summertime schedule. At home its easy, I get up with Jim and once he's off to work I'm on the computer. Its not so clear cut up here.

The lure of the outdoors is amazing. The kids, even the big ones, just want to be outside. The tv has only been turned at night, by the grown ups to watch movies (from the library of course!) It hasn't even occured to the little ones to ask to watch tv. The hot sunny weather and our lack of air conditioning has helped.

Its interesting to see how patterns of behavior develop. After coming home from the beach there is always a flurry of activity. Towels need to get hung on the line, other laundry may need to be brought in, final dinner preparations need to be completed, and some of us want to hit the shower.

Last year we got in the habit of giving the boys' an ice pop as soon as we got home to help occupy them. It didn't fill them up, it was only fruit juice and after running on the beach extra fluids are important. The first day we walked home from the beach this year, the boys asked if they could have their ice pops! There had been no mention of them from last year but they remembered.

The lesson of the ice pops is after doing something consistently it becomes habit. We've started going on a family bike ride every night around 8pm. After just three nights, the kids have come to expect that we're going to do it. Knowing how quickly things, good or bad, become habit is powerful.

What good habits are you working on?