Put Those Kids To Work!

When I was young we had "jobs".  When we got home from school we looked at the giant job chart on the side of the refrigerator and completed our job to get a sticker which then translated to our allowance. (A portion of which always went into our savings account.)  On the kitchen counter beside the sink was a laminated pile of cards with our names on them which would indicate who's job it was to set the table that night.  As we got older the jobs changed and they didn't rotate a whole bunch.  I can remember as an older adolescent doing laundry a lot and being glad that I was no longer assigned the "land mines" job that I hated so much as a kid.

Now that I have my own kids I understand the importance of "jobs".  Not only does it teach them responsibility, but it also helps me to keep this place presentable.  I've been on a mission to find the perfect job chart and I found it at erincondren.com.  HOWEVER, I guess I was the only one that loved it because she no longer makes it.  What I loved about it was that I could change the job each day AND there was only one job that each kid had to do.  Many of the chore charts have TONS of items listed.  While I'm not opposed to my kids doing all of these (may include brushing teeth, making beds, throwing dirty clothes where they belong) I don't want to have to give them a sticker each and every time they do something.  With one kid that's young I can see it, but with 4, I'd spend my entire day in front of the chore chart.  Anyway, I was stuck for awhile and the kids were off the hook.  I still have a whole bunch of the reward cards that I got when I got the chart, which I also LOVE.  Of course they don't make these anymore either so this time when I get down to the last one I'm going to take a page from mom's play book and have them laminated so I can reuse them!

I like how you can write the reward that the kids are working for right on the card so we can talk about and the older kids can read their goals.  There are just enough circles to get their checks that the goals are within reach, but they're not getting something all the time.

So, my new genius idea to replace the chore chart.  Are you ready?!?! I'm so impressed with myself for thinking of this!  STICKS!

When I taught I used this kind of thing a lot.  You'd put all the kids names on a stick then draw them to out choose groups or whatever.  For this, I wrote a job on each stick.  SO FAR the kids really like it.  I think it's cool because it gives them a little control.  It's not really a job I assigned (even though I created the sticks) it's a job they picked.  I'm going to include a picture of all the sticks to give you an idea of what kinds of things I have my kids do. I'm doing this because I was talking to a friend once about her kids chores and she very excitedly asked me what I had mine do.  I stole some of her chore ideas and she used some of mine.  Some of the chores are in there multiple times, simply because they need to be done more often (and also because I was running out of ideas).  So far I have them draw a stick then put it back it.  I could also keep the sticks out that have already been used, but I think they like the idea of digging around in there to pick one out.  All of these are things that I'm doing anyway so it's not like they NEED to be done, but most of them are things that could use a touch-up between my cleanings. (Think the kids bathroom.  That thing needs cleaned every 15 minutes or so!) 

Sometimes I make them draw again, like the 10 minutes cleaning the playroom. Caden drew that the same day as I cleaned the playroom.  Some are easier than others and some are a little more fun (dusting ceilings is going to be a favorite) be I wanted to keep it varied so they don't get bored.  So far they haven't reacted like they're chores, more like little tasks to get closer to their selected goals.  FYI, we also give checkmarks on the cards for other things besides chores.  If they're extra helpful or are super good I'll sometimes throw a checkmark on there.  The other day Caden was playing basketball with Olivia.  Clearly it was way more fun for her than for him, but he was spending time with his sister and she was in heaven.  Extra checkmark. Ellie is a BIG fan of the extra checkmarks.  She's ALWAYS asking if she can do something for an extra checkmark.  She used to do then ask, but now she's wised up! 

So there it is!  Child labor in my house.