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Hello, Reader.

Our family has a lot to celebrate this week: Yesterday was our daughter's birthday. She was born 9/9/99 -- super simple to remember -- which means she turned 26 this year! And tomorrow -- 9/11 -- is her next older brother's 28th birthday. But as I mentioned earlier this month, tomorrow also happens to be National Make Your Bed Day.

When our kids were little, we made it as easy as possible for them to make their own bed by having them sleep with just a fitted sheet and a comforter. That way, all they had to do in the morning to tidy up was to smooth out the comforter and plump up the pillow. Even the two year olds were able to do a decent job of that.

I believe chores are important for kids. Chores help them learn important life skills, teach responsibility, build confidence, and help make sure our homes are pleasant places to be. But whenever I write about such things, there are readers who want to take issue with those claims. They accuse me of robbing my children of their childhood by requiring them to clean up after themselves.

Yet their arguments have yet to convince me. ....

Free resources for you this week:

• ​Training Kids to Keep Rooms Tidy - includes a handy printable bedroom inspection checklist
• ​Teaching Children to Do Chores Cheerfully -
• ​Age- Appropriate Chores for Children - the post (and printable) that stirred up the controversy
• ​Why the Controversy over Children's Chores? - in which I respond to readers' objections
• ​Chores vs Homework - which should take precedence?
• ​Taming the Toy Box - bringing order to the chaos created by children's playthings
• ​Should Kids Get Paid for Chores? - here's how our family handles this question

What I'm reading this week:

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I finished listening to No More Dead Dogs this week, chosen because as I like Gordon Korman, and that title's currently free in the Audible Plus catalogue. But I ended up loving the book! A scrupulously honest football jock named Wallace Wallace winds up in detention after writing a derogatory review criticizing his English teacher's favorite book. Instead of going to football practice, he must report to the school auditorium.There the drama class is rehearsing a stage production adapted from the same objectionable story. As Wallace wins more and more drama students over to his way of thinking, the English teacher begins to regret ever pushing the issue in the first place.

This week's reader request:

An 83-year-old reader named Mary Alice requested I compose a new pledge of allegiance -- this one to our Creator who blesses us so abundantly. So I did exactly that.

On the podcast this week:

Loving Life at Home: Episode 97 ​Q&A: Babies, Books, Badges, and Correcting Other People's Children​ I’ve been cleaning out my inbox this week and answering some of the questions my blog readers, podcast listeners, and/or newsletter subscribers have sent in. So I’ve decided to tackle several of those topics on today’s podcast episode. Listen Now

Progress on last week's goals:

I marked most of the items off my list last week: ✅ tole-painted a small tin (and taught the girls in my co-op class to do the same), ✅ made lesson plans for next six weeks, ✅ finished crocheting a wedding gift, ✅ attended my daughter's volleyball tournament, and ✅ played pickleball with my husband. The only things I didn't finish were ❌ grading math homework and ❌ reducing inbox messages to 25 or less -- although I'm making slow progress on both goals!

Personal goals for this week:

• spread mulch in flower beds
• send family Bible memory passage for September
• catch up on grading math
• make felted craft sample for co-op class
• register for October's family camp
• organize costume buckets in the garage

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Thanks so much for all your help! I'll be back next week with more links, reviews, and resources. If you have any special requests, please let me know. 😊