I heart chore charts

Thank you ladies for all your support after my last post. I appreciate it very much! It's so nice to have friends!

Last week I started a new chore chart system for the boys. I know I blogged a couple months ago about a new parenting system that we were going to start...I never did keep up with that one mostly because it turned cumbersome...and not something that we were able to be consistent about. But last week in the midst of being frustrated at how our summer together was shaping up, I decided to take charge. I was tired of the tv being on too much, no responsibilities for the kids (or when they were asked to help with something, it was a lot of arguing), and a total lack of any sort of daily schedule.

I have also always had a hard time with the issue of allowance. What I mean by that is whether to do allowance based on chores done, or to expect chores to be done simply based on the fact that we're a family and that's what families do. I see pros to both sides. In the end though, I heard Dr. Laura talking about it last week and her opinion is that kids need to work for their money...that is the way real life works.

Anyway, so I decided to do a chore chart where the boys get paid 1x per week for each chore that they complete. In addition to the chores they also have a daily box for overall attitude during the day that they get an amount of money on a sliding scale.

There are a couple of strange phenomenon's in our house. The first phenomenon is that if I was to ask Bryce out of the blue to empty the dishwasher for example, he would act as if the world was coming to an end. However, if I put 'empty the dishwasher' on a chore chart, he is so excited to empty the dishwasher and will do it with great enthusiasm. Maybe he is like me..needs a list to check off in order to get motivated to get anything done. The other strange phenomenon is that although I know this about him, I'm not consistent in my chore chart making. Go figure.

By far the BEST thing I put on the chore charts for the boys is a box for school work. This is borderline genius for two reasons. 1. It keeps them quiet and entertained sitting still at the table for a generous amount of time in the mornings 2. The way I set it up is that Bryce has to help Jayden with his pages....therefore not only is Jayden learning, but Bryce is reinforcing his knowledge AND it is teaching them both to work together...this morning I heard Bryce say, "good job, Jayden" when he had done something right. Beautiful. Music to this mother's ears. Since I instated the chore chart last week, our house has been more peaceful, more scheduled and much, much more pleasant. I highly recommend chore charts.