I am now the morning parent for our two beamish boys, ages 8 and 12.  If your house is anything like mine, no matter how early you wake up, or how organized you are the night before, there is a rush at the last minute to organize book bags, musical instruments, shoes, glasses, lunches and other things.   Several times, we have left things at home that had to be ferried to school later.

I might have stumbled upon a system that works.  Ten minutes before we leave, I call an “Inspection”.  The boys stand in formation at attention.  I go through the checklist: Teeth brushed?  Check.  Hair combed?  Check.  Book bags packed?  Check.  And so on.

The penalty for missing something is 5 pushups.  Get down and count them out, mister.

They can also get pushup credits for doing something extra.  The first day one of the boys made his bed.  The next day they were fighting over who was going to make the beds.  One of them gave his brother five of his pushup credits.  So I gave him five more for being so generous.

This is working out well so far.  Both boys completed inspection perfectly this morning.  We’ll see how long it lasts.  Let me know in the comments if you try it and what success you have.