With a new baby in tow who is oh-so-sweet, but a non-stop crier, and a busy two-year-old (also mom's shadow), I have come to realize how much I need to rely on the help of my 4 and 6-year-old daughters.
Yes, I have always had them pick up their toys and other things throughout the day, and for the past year they have been helping put their laundry away (after I folded it), make their beds, and they always help set the table at dinner time/clear their dishes at meal time. They also love to help me dust and wash windows. But I have discovered lately that this just isn't quite cutting it.
So....(drum roll please), I finally got around to setting up a REAL chore system! Yay! I made a list of daily morning chores (pics included), daily supper chores, and evening chores. Each day they check them off after they are completed (their fav. part, of course). I can't tell you how much this has helped me, not to mention the overall order and cleanliness of the house. I don't believe in allowance, but think that being a part of our family and living together in our home is reason enough why they need to do their part to help out. But I did make a list of extra chores that they can do to earn money if they want to buy something. They are still young enough that they don't really care about that yet.
Both girls are required to make their beds, get dressed, fold their pajamas and brush their teeth before breakfast (it is amazing how fast and well these things are done when done before they get to eat, instead of after. Brushing teeth should probably be done after breakfast, but I always seem to forget to remind them, so at least it is getting done).
While I am making dinner has been the magical part of our new program. Right before dinner is usually the crazy part of our day and the kids think this is a good time to run wild (while the baby is crying and the two-year-old is fussing and hanging onto my leg). Having the kids complete chores while I am making dinner has really calmed things down and gives them something productive to do. The girls need to have their room picked up and inspected by mom before dinner. Also, I have a supper helper each day (as well as a breakfast helper): middle daughter is on Mon/Wed, oldest on Tues/Thurs, Little Man is on Friday.
Here is oldest daughter's schedule:
Morning Chores: Make bed, get dressed, brush teeth, fold pjs, breakfast helper (Mon/Wed).
Supper Chores: Clean room, Supper helper on Tues/Thurs. (includes helping prepare meal, setting table, unloading/loading dishwasher, putting food away, and wiping table), and wipe out kid's bathroom sink (no more globs of toothpaste building up!).
Evening Chores: Clean up living room
Weekly Chores:
Mon: Pick up in van.
Tues: Fold and put away laundry.
Fri: Organize dresser drawers.
Monthly:
Week 1: Change sheets on bed.
Week 2: Wash windows/mirrors.
Week 3: Clean light switch plates.
Week 4: Help wash the cars.
Obviously, this is still a work in progress. But because I want the kids to be successful, it pushes me to stay on top of things (like getting the dishes done after each meal, instead of letting them pile up all day long). With the demands of the baby, we don't always get everything done, but so far I am loving the new system and the kids are too (Little Man loves being able to set the table and he does a pretty cute job :)). The girls like the satisfaction of checking things off when completed and knowing how proud and grateful mommy is.
Now if only I can keep this up. So I am loving it for now, while it lasts. :)
What do you do in your home? I would love to hear!
8 comments:
We have a list of chores that the kids have to help out with every day including: make beds, pick up toys, brush teeth. Then there are the usual things like homework and helping feed pets and help with dinner. We also have some things they can do to earn some extra money like weeding, dusting, emptying the trash, etc. It's a good system and it works for us. If the kids don't get all their things picked up a half hour before bedtime, then mom puts said things into time out for a period of time and the kids have to earn them back.
Oh my goodness. This sounds wonderful. Remind me to come back and check this when my kids are old enough to help. I made a weekly to-do list and mounted it in a cheap picture frame on the fridge. Now I can write on it with dry-erase or permanent markers and keep track of additional things I need to do that specific week: http://mollyauf.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-next.html. We also write our meal plans on it (when we're that organized).
Ah, don't you love being organized? I am the same way, things just run so much more smoothly when you have a plan and a system of doing things and things are organized. I do the same thing as you (although after breakfast) as far as the kids have to 1. Get dressed 2. Make bed 3. Do hair. 4. Brush teeth (oh, and first after breakfast is to put their dishes in the sink). Then Siena has some extra jobs like making her bed and unloading the silverware before she can do anything fun. The thing I need to work on is meal planning...ugh, I don't know why that's so hard for me but it is.
P.S. I want to see more pics of the new babe!!!
Wow--such organization! I am impressed!
Okay so I know Chloe is too little to start any of this, but my question is how old are they when you start expecting/asking them to help out? I Can't wait for the help!
Sounds like a great system! I've set up systems a few times, but my problem is always remembering to enforce them. It can be easy to let things slide a little, and forget to have the kids do their chores. I love it when they get excited to mark off the chart though, because then they remember it better!
Right now it's our bedtime routine I'm trying to work on. We have an alarm go off at 8pm. (then I don't have to remember) That means that they have 15 min. to get pjs, brush teeth, etc. At 8:15 they are in their rooms. They then get two bedtime tokens. If they forgot to brush their teeth, they have to use one of the tokens to do so. They can use them to get a drink, more hugs, etc. Or, they can use both of them towards a story or something that takes a little longer. That encourages them to get everything done before hand, and makes it so I don't have to nag all the time!! So far it's working great. They love the tokens. Melissa
I love the idea of a more organized list like this. I would love a copy of the list with pics and everything!
Elena helps set the table, brushes her teeth, gets dressed (after I pick it out), puts her laundry away, and she has to have a clean room in order to come out of her room after quiet time and again before bed. I really like the idea of having them dressed before breakfast. She gets a penny when she does her chores, but only when she remembers to ask which is about twice a week. I think it's great because then she gets so excited about paying tithing or giving to humanitarian aid.
Kevin puts the napkins on the table for dinner and has to help clean up his toys. He loves to help with dinner just like E.
I think a more organized list sounds like a great idea!
I'm sorry to hear that the new baby is a crier. That's so hard. Elena was, but she was my first so I didn't know any better. I thought she was a good baby because she only cried when I wasn't holding/rocking her. HA!
PS Molly's list is awesome. I totally copied it and posted it on my fridge.
congratulations on your new little one! As for all the art supplies for my daughter's party. My mother in law purchases most of them, but she got a lot of the take home stuff from the dollar store. We got the canvases from michaels, not sure where she got the pigs & the tote bags i think were from walmart along with the palet tray. oh and the little canvases that we used for name tags at the table were also from walmart. check out pinterest.com for fun ideas for the photo booth and you can also check out my pinterest boards & I have a lot of different art blogs that I got my ideas from. Good luck! It was a lot of fun. And good luck with 4 kids. just take it one day at a time. it will get easier, especially once you get a schedule for the little one. Plus it's good for the other kids to help out.
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