Chore Chart

Nothing compares to the feeling of sharing a passion with your children.  The joy of pounding bread dough out on the table, or helping their little hands grip a paint brush sears itself onto your heart and leaves you altered.  But, here's the truth.  One of the greatest lessons we can teach our children is to work hard on the things that don't come easily.  When my kids look back on their childhoods with me I don't want them to remember the things I did effortlessly.  I want them to think of all the times I found something difficult and kept at it anyway because it was the right thing to do.

Now, I know that this seems like a dramatic introduction to a post about a chore chart, but it's really all of the tiny tasks and choices in a day that make up a life.  I want my children to grow into adults who eat well, exercise, make wise financial decisions and live in homes that are sanctuaries.  Leading by example in these areas can't happen with short bursts of enthusiasm followed by long bouts of lethargy, and to be honest that is how I've always approached housekeeping.

There were no chores in my house growing up.  My mother was able to stay home during our elementary years and she cleaned the house during the day while we were in school.  Obviously, homeschooling makes that impossible, but I think I would want my children to pitch in around the house regardless of education choices.  When I struck out as a young adult and tried to make a home for myself and my husband I struggled.  For the first several years I was an adequate housekeeper and a lousy cook, then the twins came along and the equation switched.  My focus was on feeding my children well and the housework became overwhelming.  Since my daughter turned three things have evened out.  Everyone gets full nights of good sleep, we have a consistent daily routine and all the children are old enough to reason with and physically capable of being truly helpful.

Maybe two years ago, the boys received a Melissa and Doug brand magnetic chore chart as a gift.  They enjoyed making lists with it, but there wasn't a good way to set up jobs for them to do individually.  And because housework gives me very little joy, I failed to use it regularly.  Instead I would pull it out as a tool on days when the house had passed the point of no return and I was having a meltdown.  All in all, not a method I recommend.

After a couple of difficult days trying to get the kids to pitch in and help out around the house I started revising the way I approach the chores.  I spent a little time (like maybe a thousand hours) watching videos and reading blog posts online about chore systems and decided to make a concerted effort to raise the expectations for the children (and myself).

Technically we homeschool all year, but during the summer the kids don't have any scheduled classes or sports events, so I reasoned that starting a chore system now would give us plenty of time to make it a habit before the fall comes around and our calendar fills up.

First I created a list of simple jobs and corresponding clip art in a word document.  I tried to limit each task to two minutes, doing things like "10 Toys" instead of "Pick up Playroom".  It doesn't get the playroom entirely clean, but it saves me from bending over thirty times a day and keeps the children from getting overwhelmed and quitting.  I also started with a small number of tasks, figuring that I could do the chores alongside them until they were mastered and add more variety as weeks go by.

Once the chores were chosen I printed them, cut them out and pasted them onto small squares of scrapbooking paper.  I then wrapped a piece of packing tape around each square to make them more durable and glued a small magnet to the back of each one.  Using washi tape I created a grid on the front of our fridge and made columns for the kids' initials, morning chores, afternoon chores and completed chores.  It's attractive enough, they enjoy moving the magnets between the columns and since we used materials we had on hand I believe the total cost was around two dollars.

One of the boys, my rule guy, has taken to it with almost no effort.  My other son has been looking for more of a structure and plan to our days and so he's doing well, but needs a little more prodding.  My daughter is happy to do anything where she has my undivided attention, so working alongside her makes it easy to get her cooperation.  I want to mention that the children don't get any compensation for their chores.  At some point I will offer them jobs on commission so that they can earn pocket money, but these chores are expected because we are trying to promote a base level of service to themselves and the family.