Working on chores

We have always expected our kids to help around the house. Sometimes we've referred to them as "chores" but usually we just asked them to help on an as-needed basis. Catherine, our type A first child, has occasionally made herself chore charts and rewarded herself with stickers. I've never been consistent with that so she has done it for herself and her siblings when she felt motivated. Once when I asked her to make her bed, she whined "I could do it so much better if you just made me a chart!"

I started to notice a few months ago though that Catherine and Will do much better if they know ahead of time what is expected of them with chores and if I give them some freedom as to when they get those tasks completed. I tend to just notice what needs to be done right that minute and expect them to immediately cooperate. So I started thinking of a way to make this work best for us at this stage of life, to train and not exasperate them, to encourage their helpfulness.

I came across this idea, or something similar to it, on Pinterest. I got some foam door hangers and wooden clothes pins from The Dollar Tree (total investment of $3 for a 3-pack of door hangers and 2 packs of clothespins). The kids wrote their names at the top and we divided it down the middle with a "to do" section on the left and "done" on the right. Then I wrote various chores on the clothes pins, such as laundry, set table, bathrooms, books, toys, shoes, stairs, and trash. The kids and I have talked about what these mean, so they know that if I put "shoes" on their chart that they need to collect all their shoes from beside the front door and put them away.

This system allows me to pick out 2-4 chores that need to be completed each afternoon for each child. Not every day is the same. I tend to let the folded laundry stack up for a few days and then they all get the laundry chore. I rotate who takes out the trash, sets the table, and clears the extra dishes from dinner (everyone clears their own plates).

I usually assign the chores by 2-3pm and I encourage them to complete them before dinner time if possible. They are very good at encouraging and helping each other and it usually takes about 30 mins to get their chores completed.

Sometimes they even decide to do extra chores on their own. Yesterday Catherine swept out and organized the entire garage without me asking. Anna has become quite proficient at setting the table. Last night she set the table for 7 (Mimi and Poppop were coming over) and even included Easter eggs for decorations at each napkin. I was impressed!

Catherine did still make some kind of chart on the refrigerator and they've been rewarding themselves with tally marks for each chore they complete. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with those tally marks. Maybe she will tell me when they reach a certain goal or something!

Mostly I want them to contribute to the work of our family, cheerfully and responsibly. I'm sure this will be an ongoing and changing process of training over the years, but for right now it's working for us.