The kitchen was a mess and there were crayon shavings covering the floor, the counters, and under our finger nails. But no one (save my husband) was worried about the mess or complaining about being hungry.

After dinner, I was marveling at the crayons that we had created, and my husband remarked, “I can think of a lot of other things that would have been a better use of 4 hours.” I immediately shot back with, “But what could have been better than the memories and the bonds we created while making those crayons today?”

He didn’t argue.

While looking at the muffin-tin shaped crayons the next morning (along side the crayon-colored muffin tins that need cleaning) I thought of the analogy about the jar filled with rocks and pebbles.

The concept is relatively simple: Picture a jar. You need to fit a bunch of rocks of different sizes into your jar. It makes sense to place the largest rocks in the jar first, adding the smaller rocks next, and finally filling the tiniest of spaces with sand. Experts recommend taking the same approach to home management. Do the most important tasks first (rocks) and fill in your time with the less-pressing activities (pebbles and sand).

The question remains: “What are the rocks when it comes to home management? What are the most important tasks?”

For those four hours the other day, my children were my rocks—my most important priority. Yes! Even more important of a priority in that moment than meal time.

The time I spent with them was the best use of my time, and I was able to fit making dinner into the breaks. We also managed to unload some dishes and clean the kitchen table so that we didn’t have to eat on crayon shavings.

Priorities might change from day to day. Tomorrow, I might need to make laundry one of my rocks or no one will have clean clothes to wear for the rest of the week. Sometimes, when I have a deadline for a project I’m working on, my work becomes my first priority and house work needs to take a secondary place.

Most mornings, after the kids have left for school and the work day starts for me, I tend to head straight for my computer, where it is very easy to get stuck for the next 6 hours. However, I’ve learned that taking 30 minutes in the morning to clean the kitchen and the family room (and maybe a few extra minutes to take a shower) make the rest of my day feel so much more productive and gets me started with a positive outlook.

What are the rocks that you like to tackle first? Or do you find yourself wanting to fill your time with “sand” too often?

Lolli is a mother of five who believes that kids can do more than they lead us to believe. So she puts her kids to work cleaning and cooking as much as possible, reassuring them the whole while that they will thank her for it someday. When the kids are at school, Lolli spends her time writing on her blog, Better in Bulk, tweeting, and editing pictures from her latest photo shoots.

Prize

Two lucky winners will receive gift baskets from Crayola right in time for the holiday season and gift giving.

• Grand Prize Winner will receive a gift pack loaded with 30 amazing starter products to get those first-time Crayola kids started on some colorful fun (retail value: $200).
• Second Place Winner will receive six new products from Crayola: Magic Light Brush, Glow Board, Glow Station, Glow Dome, Color me a Song, Crayon Maker.

Entry Requirements

To enter for a chance to win, you are required to do the following four things. Make sure to leave a comment here linking to each one:

1. Check out the #gno Crayola Whrrl story and leave a comment on one of the pictures.
2. Follow @Crayola on Twitter.
3. Become a fan of the Crayola Facebook Page.
4. Retweet and/or post the following two messages on Facebook and Twitter and comment here, linking to your update/post:

Join #gno Tues 11/10 (9-11 pm ET) 2 chat about creative holiday gift giving w/@crayola RSVP: http://bit.ly/1cuZfL PLS RT

GIVEAWAY! Enter 2 win @Crayola gift packs just in time 4 holidays (2 winners/ret. val. $200!) http://bit.ly/QoTq8 #gno PLS RT

The Fine Print

No purchase necessary to enter. Winners will be selected randomly through http://random.org. Crayola and Mom It Forward employees are ineligible to participate. All entries received after Wednesday, November 11 at midnight PT will not be considered. Entries that do not follow all of the entry requirements will not be considered. Winners will be notified and will have 24 hours to confirm receipt of the e-mail. If they do not reply within 24 hours, another winner will be selected. Open to participants in the US and Canada 18 years and older. One entry per person.

One lucky winner will watch their child(ren)’s imagination ignite with Crayola’s Color Explosion gift pack ($200 retail value). (See gift pack products and giveaway entry requirements below.)

Whether you win the grand prize or not, everyone’s a winner in this week’s giveaway! Enjoy a discount toward Crayola products by downloading a Crayola coupon here (good through August 31).

Giveaway Product Details

• Color Explosion Glow Board
• CE Glow Dome
• CE 3-D Wide Edition
• CE Poster Sized Scenes—White (Pirates of the Caribbean)
• CE-white (Twisted Tropicals)
• CE-Extreme Surprises (white)
• CE-Extreme Surprises (black)
• CE-Black (Wild Safari)
• CE-Black (Neon)
• CE-Black (Tropical Seas)
• CE-Black (Star Wars scenes)
• CE-Black (Disney/Pixar Cars)
• CE-Hannah Montana
• CE- 3-D Scene (with an extra pair of glasses and 4 extra markers)
• Crayola Illumination Station
• Model Magic Fusion
• 12 ct. Twistables Slick Stix
• Crayola “Trayola” Twistables
• 24 ct. Color Sticks
• 12 ct. Colored Pencils
• Heads ‘n Tails Colored Pencils
• 24 and 64 ct. Classic Crayons
• Poster Crayons
• Window Crayons
• Window Mega Markers
• Classic 10 ct. Markers (Broad Line)
• Heads ‘n Tails Washable Markers
• Pip-Squeaks Mix ‘Ems Markers
• Color Switchers
• Picture frames & Pictures Coloring Book
• 2 Sticker Sheets
• Sidewalk Crayons
• 3-D Giant Sidewalk Chalk

Entry Requirements

To enter for a chance to win, you are required to do four things (make sure you leave a separate comment for each of your entries).

Note: Entries that do not follow all of these requirements will not be considered.

1. Brighten someone’s day during this back-to-school season by performing one of the random acts of kindness listed here and commenting here to tell us what you did.
2. Become a fan of the Crayola Facebook Page.
3. Follow @crayola on Twitter.
4. Post these messages on Facebook and/or on Twitter and leave comments here, linking to your messages:

Join #gno Tues 9-11 ET 4 a back-to-school wrap up w/ @crayola. RSVP: http://bit.ly/oyOz9 PLS RT

GIVEAWAY! Enter 2 win $200 in @crayola products. RSVP: http://bit.ly/2OcSQi PLS RT

Extra Entries

You can earn up to two extra entries for this week’s giveaway. Leave an additional comment for each.

• Share one of your favorite back-to-school memories on the Mom It Forward Facebook Page.
• Join the Mom It Forward Google Friend Connect (in the right-hand sidebar).

The Fine Print

No purchase necessary to enter. Winners will be selected randomly through http://random.org. Crayola and Mom It Forward employees are ineligible to participate. All entries received after Sunday, August 23 at midnight PDT will not be considered. Entries that do not follow all of the entry requirements will not be considered.

Prize

Coupon

Everyone’s a winner. Enjoy a discount toward Crayola products by downloading a Crayola coupon here (good through August 31).

Grand Prize

One grand-prize winner will receive the following products in a Crayola Color Pip Squeaks back-to-school survivor gift pack (approximate retail value: $200). And, don’t let their small size fool you. Pip Squeaks are packed with a big punch of color and lots of fun! (See entry requirements below.)

• Pip-Squeaks Washable Telescoping Mini-Marker Tower
• Pip-Squeaks Mini-Marker Portfolio
• 16 ct. Pip-Squeaks Washable Markers
• Pip-Squeaks Mix ‘Ems Markers
• Pip-Squeaks Colored Pencils
• Pip-Squeaks Washable Glitter Glue
• Mini Twistables Crayons
• Color Surge 100 Piece Set
• Ultimate Wipe-Off Activity Book
• Crayola Crayon Maker
• Twistables Colored Pencils
• Erasable Twistables Colored Pencils
• Twistables Crayons
• Twistables Slick Stix (5 and 12 ct.)
• True to Life Tri-Color Tips Colored Pencils
• True to Life Tri-Color Tips Markers
• Color Wave Liquid Ink Markers
• Window Mega Markers (School Colors)
• Classic 8 ct. Washable Markers (Broad line)
• Heads ‘n Tails Colored Pencils
• Erasable Colored Pencils
• Classic 24 and 64 ct. Crayons
• Window Crayons
• Poster Crayons
• Triangular Crayons
• No Drip Paint Brush Pens
• Prismatic Chipboard school accents
• 2 Hassle Free 3-in-1 Paint
• Crayola Chalk
• Crayola School Glue
• Crayola foam accents (84 alphabet pieces)

Entry Requirements

To enter for a chance to win, you are required to do four things (make sure you leave a separate comment for each of your entries):

1. Leave a comment on this post, including your e-mail address.
2. Join the new Crayola Facebook Page.
3. Post a back-to-school picture or a picture of an arts & crafts project using Crayola products on the Crayola Facebook Page.
4. Post these messages on Facebook and on Twitter and leave comments here, linking to your messages:

Join #gno Tues from 9-11 ET for back-to-school survival chat w/#Crayola. RSVP: http://bit.ly/b9Fuc PLS RT

GIVEAWAY! Enter 4 a chance 2 win #Crayola’s Pip Squeaks back-to-school gift pack @ http://bit.ly/YkAai (ret val $200) PLS RT

Extra Entries

You can earn up to five extra entries for this week’s giveaway. Leave an additional comment for each.

• Subscribe to the Crayola site at http://crayola.com.
• Post something you learned during #gno this week on the Crayola Facebook Page wall.
• Take the Summer of Service Challenge this week and comment on that post.
• Post a back-to-school picture or a picture of an arts & crafts project using Crayola products on the Mom It Forward Flickr group. (Note: This picture may show up on the Mom It Forward homepage.)
• Join the Mom It Forward Friend Connect (in the righthand sidebar).

The Fine Print

No purchase necessary to enter. Winners will be selected randomly through http://random.org. Crayola and Mom It Forward employees are ineligible to participate. All entries received after Sunday, August 9 at midnight PDT will not be considered. Entries that do not follow all of the entry requirements will not be considered.

Here’s how it works:

Every Sunday through Tuesday, you can RSVP for the party by clicking on the RSVP post here on MomItForward.com. You can include your Twitter URL in the link list and see the list of others that plan to participate in the GNO party on Twitter. (In the event that Mr. Linky is not showing up in the RSVP post, please leave your Twitter URLs in the comments, this will allow everyone to know who is participating and follow them.)

Visit http://momitforward.com each Monday for more information and a custom Tweet Grid for that week´s event.

On Tuesday nights, starting at 9pm Eastern, tweet using the hashtag #gno and chat away.

Click on the giveaways chat bubble in the righthand column to check out the amazing weekly prizes all Mom It Forward and #gno gals can take advantage of. In addition to the prizes that will be awarded during the weekly #gno party on Twitter, many bloggers will be hosting weekly giveaways for Crayola Creativity Packs following the Crayola #gno on Twitter. That’s four winners per blog over the next month.

In the Creativity Pack you will find things like…

• 24 pack crayons
• 10 ct. crayola markers
• 12 ct. crayola colored pencils
• Crayola pip – squeaks colored pencils and glitter glue
• Crayola window crayons
• Tadoodles washable crayon Buddies
• Crayola color explosion black surprises
• Crayola Color Switchers

Sound like fun? Hope to see you Tuesdays from now til September for some creative conversation!