Last week my husband and I came to the conclusion that our kids are spoiled. There, I said it out loud. SPOILED!!!! I came from a family where I did A LOT of chores. He came from a family where no one did chores. We always said we would be in the middle, our kids would have some chores, but not feel like slaves, and not be lazy! So, our kids are now 10, 9, and 7 with birthdays coming up this summer. They like to help mommy, and they help when asked. But that was it. After picking up countless yogurt tube wrappers off the floor and empty water bottles, Keith and I had it. We had a parents meeting. Oh yes we did! We decided that these kids need chores! So we started by having a family home evening on how it is good to work as a family, we talked about how much fun we have working outside in the yard and garden together and how it makes us proud of our yard etc. Then we talked about how the inside of our home is our castle, our haven. We all needed to work together to make it nice and cozy. So we told the kids that in addition to their one chore which was to clean their rooms every friday ( which if they did this they would get a dollar- one kid did it every friday, the other two.. never) they would have one chore a day, unpaid. That would be there chore and their way of helping to care for our home and have pride in it. This has gone well, as long as mommy says “ go do your chore for the day!”
On friday my oldest, Dylan, said he needed to earn some money. Could he get a job? Well, no son, most people won’t hire ten year olds… child labor laws and such
So, I got this idea in my noggin. I talked to Keith that evening and we came up with “jobs” the kids could do around the house for a certain amount of money. Things like, do the dishes and wipe the counters you get 50 cents. Then after mommy or daddy checks it to make sure the job is done right ( we discussed how your boss at work would not pay you unless the job was done well) they would get that 50 cents put in their bank account. The bank accounts are pieces of paper with their names on the top. So we continued to talk about this happily and positively and the kids were excited and Dylan figured that if he did the chores, etc he could get the thing he was saving up for in just a couple of weeks. So today was the first day of the great “chore chart”. I guess that is what you would call it. They did their one unpaid chore, their was of helping have pride in our home and helping each other as a family. Then they all three decided to clean their rooms because that was the highest payout lol! I made lists for each bedroom. It basically listed every single thing they had to do , in order for the room to be satisfactory for them to be paid. Since this was the first time, I sat in their rooms with them, told them what was next on the list, encouraged them, put on some fun music, even helped a bit, but they were the ones who did the work. I am so proud of them! They each did it! Then my youngest decided to do the dishes, which was a 50 cent job. Since there were only four dishes, she kindly said she would accept a quarter. HA!! My middle daughter said, Mommy what is the chore that most needs done? The living room! It had its own little list on the chore /job list. So she followed the list, and waaa-laaaa she got 50 cents in her bank. My son took the garbage out. 25 cents. Now they are happily playing and the house is looking swell. I’m feeling pretty good as a mom right now. Of course, in a couple of days, my kids will still only have the money they earned today, lol, but at least I can say I did something!!!! I really do hope this works out. It’s a fun way to earn money, to show them responsibility, we are having a fhe on tithing, because that will be paid when they get their “paycheck” on friday. So many awesome lessons.
I do love parenting. It’s so hard, but it’s fun to get creative. Hop on over to our facebook page, and tell me how you get your kids to clean and do chores! We’ve had some neat ideas so far and even a new website that I hadn’t heard of them I’m really excited to read thru! You can of course comment here and tell me what good ideas you have….. music? bribery? chore charts? bribery?
Happy Parenting! Love, JL ~facebook page- http://www.facebook.com/groups/168800359856535/#!/groups/168800359856535/
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