Gem Collecting: Creating a Winter Break Without Getting Angry

The game's background music shakes the living room at full volume. I wince, but take a breath and stretch.
I take a ladybug-shaped tin down from a high shelf.

Inside, it is packed full of sparkles.

Three deep breaths here.
I have to change my expression and tone of voice.

"We're going to do some gem collecting."

When I say that, my son, who was playing a game, turns around, and my daughter, who had been sitting in the middle of the floor with all sorts of things spread out doing crafts, looks up.

Both of them stand up and come closer.
I quickly lift the ladybug tin to a height they can't reach.

"Things you have to do, helping out, or things like crafts and drawing—if you work hard at something, you get one gem for each."

"Gems? Give me, give me!"

The five-year-old stretches up and hops around. Their hair flutters in the air.

The eight-year-old inches closer.
With my daughter being tall enough to be in the top three of her second-grade class, I am in danger.
I move the tin to safety on top of the microwave. (#What are you talking about)

The rules for gem collecting are very simple.
If you "worked hard," you get one gem.

The number of gems collected is recorded in a notebook.
Once written down, they go back into the tin, and the count resets the next day to start collecting again.

The collected gems can be exchanged for money at a rate of 1 gem = 1 yen.

Small things like capsule toys or toys from the 100-yen shop.
I have told them that if they want something I haven't said "yes" to, they have to use their own pocket money.

The two of them earned about 15 yen worth of gems in one day.

For me, having been doing almost all the childcare alone for eight years, long school breaks are like a towering, insurmountable wall.
I'm always afraid that the wrinkles between my eyebrows will become permanent.

That is why I have always been thinking about how to crack that wall.

Today, I would like to introduce seven ideas I have cultivated over these eight years.

A magical way to clean up toys at 'double speed'

When you have children around kindergarten age, you sometimes have trouble with them scattering a massive amount of toys on the floor.
My home is no exception, and I used to always pick them up while feeling frustrated.

However, when I combined items I bought at 3COINS with items from a 100-yen shop, cleaning up toys actually became 'double speed'.

The containers are also very highly recommended because you can use them when you want to rethink your storage.

This is a method that all the mom friends who come to my house have started using, but I also hear people say, 'I looked for them but couldn't find them!' It seems some stores don't carry them. Even if they aren't the exact same ones, similar items will work just fine.

Attempting a 'continuous combo' of cleaning

Two or three years ago, I made something called a 'Cleaning Combo Sheet'.

During long breaks, 'static' tasks—like holing up in a room to work on a computer, reading documents, or making a recipe notebook—become difficult.
This is because I am constantly being called out to with things like 'Hey, hey,' 'What are you doing?', 'Hurry,' or 'Come here quickly.'

However, when I do 'active' tasks—like taking everything out of a kitchen drawer, wiping it down, and putting it back, or reorganizing craft supplies that the kids have shoved in messily—they quickly lose interest.

Therefore, I focus as much as possible on 'cleaning tasks I usually can't get to'.

That said, it isn't exactly fun, so I create a goal called a 'continuous combo' and enjoy it like a game.

▼ You record your progress by stamping the sheet.

Stop 'making things on the spot'

I feel like I am standing in the kitchen all day long during long breaks.

One day, while making breakfast, I prepared extra side dishes and packed them into lunch boxes, and it was surprisingly easy.

I think the ease comes from the fact that planning the menu, washing the pots and pans, and doing the actual work only have to be done once. If you have a packed lunch, the only things to wash at lunchtime are the lunch box, cutlery, and cup.

If you're tired of having noodles for lunch, I recommend packed lunches.
Using frozen foods that can thaw naturally made it even easier.

“I’ll do it for just 5 minutes” might stretch to 30 minutes

Things that “need to be done,” like homework and studying.

When I nag my children about them, they always ask for the smallest unit of time, saying, “I’ll do it for just 5 minutes.”

In times like these, using an hourglass can sometimes stretch those “5 minutes into 30 minutes.”

An hourglass doesn't have an alarm. That’s why, once they get into it, they can sometimes focus and keep going.

I recommend a set that can measure various small increments of time. This is one of the items I’ve found consistently useful.

Being able to say “Yes!” with a smile when they ask to paint

Until a few years ago, whenever my children asked to paint, I would get furious. After all, cleaning up is a hassle, and it gets messy. It’s just a high hurdle to clear.

However, I wanted to encourage their love for crafts and drawing, so after thinking about it, I realized, “What if I just make sure it doesn’t get dirty…?”

▼ The article introduces three items that prevent messes.

Also, although not in the article, it’s even more convenient to have “clothes that can get dirty,” such as a smock or old adult clothes you were planning to throw away.

A “Homework Filing Technique” that ensures nothing is lost and progress is visible

The summer break of first grade. I held my head in my hands when I saw the homework my daughter brought home.

“She is definitely going to lose this…”

The mountain of nearly ten homework assignments was handed over in a brown envelope. My daughter took them out carelessly and tossed them here and there.

So, using my 10 years of experience as a professional organizer, I seriously thought about this homework filing technique.

We have managed to get by without losing them each time, and in a state where it is easy to grasp the progress.

How to manage the tricky 'daily consistent recording' type of homework

When I was a child, I used to finish my summer homework on the day I received it. Even so, there are things I just couldn't do. That is 'doing things consistently'.

I am the type who wants to move explosively based on my mood for the day, so I ended up crying on the last day over 'homework to record the daily weather'.

These 'consistent recording' types are also lurking in my children's homework. After five years since they entered kindergarten, I finally found a good method as a result of being made to cry.

I tried various things, but this simple method was overwhelmingly convenient.

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