Are you tired of picking up after your kids? A toy by the door, a magazine carelessly thrown on the couch, a video game console’s controllers all over the coffee table, a jacket on the floor… The mess is only half the frustration — the other half is that it happens constantly.
What if you confiscated these items and allowed your children to retrieve them only on a particular day? Call it your “Monday Turnover Box.” The rule: Any item that isn’t picked up or put away after dinner will be placed in the box. Kids (maybe even Dad) can …read more

Involving the children in household chores, whether in baby steps or in giving them tasks all their own, is a great way to teach them about responsibility. How so?

Chores help build their self-confidence. Give them a task to manage all their own. For younger kids, it can be as simple as setting the table. Be there to guide them when needed, and cheer them on when they accomplish their tasks successfully. Once they realize they can manage their chores on their own, they’ll have a boost in self-esteem.
Chores help mold their attitudes towards work. Learning how to be responsible begins …read more

Doesn’t [always] mean I am guilty…
Listening to newcomers at today’s Noon meeting I heard it again. What I sounded like with the same amount of “sober” time. Especially when I attempted to speak about what my father “did” to me to make me drink. That is until an oldtimer asked me if my father poured any booze down my throat.
From today’s Daily Reflections;
I Am Responsible
“For the readiness to take the full consequences of our past acts, and to take responsibility for the well-being of others at the same time, is the very spirit of Step Nine.”
“The very thing I fear …read more

From “The Language of the Heart” page 82-83;
“For to our kind, those who suffer alcoholism, recovery is a matter of life or death. So the Society of Alcoholics Anonymous cannot, it dare not, ever be diverted from its primary purpose.”
Fortunately, for all of us, Bill knew what an undying promoter and glory seeker he was, as are most of us.
“Temptations to do otherwise will come aplenty. Seeing fine works afoot in the field of alcohol, we shall be sorely tempted to loan out the name and credit of Alcoholics Anonymous to them; as a movement we shall be beset to …read more

When I hear things said along the lines of “my group’s treasurer is paying our AA group’s expenses out of his own personal bank account” I want to kick some serious a**! But that’s simply my ego
Directly from the pamphlet “The AA Group, Where It All Begins” page 19, comes these wise words;
“Treasurers generally maintain clear records (a ledger is helpful) and keep their groups informed about how much money is taken in and how it is spent. They may make periodic reports to the group and post financial statements quarterly. Problems can be avoided by keeping group …read more

She’s not a saint by any means but she has some words of wisdom for the new ladies of AA, including “Most of all, I have regained my self-respect.”
Give The Girl A Chance
“Today, I can say to the new gals: If you put sobriety first, you can make it. In the Thirteenth Step area, here are a few of the lines I look for.
I run, don’t walk, away from the glib orator who presents a beautiful program of solid sobriety at an AA meeting, but confides to me at the first opportunity, when we are having a cup of coffee, …read more