What a Chore!

A few weeks ago, Brian and I were beyond tired of the mess that the kids make in the house and decided that it was time for them to pull their weight around the house.  We decided to give them five age appropriate chores to do each day.  They all have to brush their teeth and hair, pick up their toys, put their clothes in the hamper, help out a little in the kitchen, and keep their bathroom clean.

We introduced their chore charts on a Sunday afternoon.  I'm going over it with Emma when she tells me, "I guess this means we are doing everything around here now."  I had to count to ten and then a hundred before I could calmly say to her, "Emma, all these chores are basically about cleaning  up after yourself.  Mommy and Daddy are still the ones cooking, doing laundry, cleaning the bathroom, etc......"  She grudgingly agreed that she wasn't doing everything.  In the middle of this conversation, Brian was silently praying Emma would stop talking for her own good. 

So, the girls started their chores the next day.  For each chore they complete successfully, they earn a sticker.  If they get all five stickers for the day, they get what we call their daily sticker.  At the end of the week, they get 50 cents for each daily sticker they earned.  Giving them an allowance was also part of our evil plan to stop spending money on treats for them all the time. Now, if they want candy at QuikTrip, they have to buy it with their own money.

On the first night, Charlotte finished her chore of setting the diningroom table.   Emma came in and didn't like the fork that Charlotte set out for her, so she got another one from the silverware drawer.  Charlotte immediately burst into tears and screamed, "You ruined my chore!"  She was inconsolable until we told Emma that she wasn't allowed to change how Charlotte set the table.  Brian and I also let Charlotte pick out our silverware and she thought it was hilarious that we were eating with kid forks.

Since then, we've had no major drama with the chores.  The girls are doing okay with it. They don't earn their daily sticker every day, but they are doing better at helping out around the house.  To our delight, Emma decided to use her allowance to buy batteries for her camera and MP3 player.  See, you really can teach them to take some responsibility for themselves. Whew!