I digress. We do chores. Every morning. And I have multiple ways of making them happen. But my system isn't hard core and my kids know to expect them and (for the most part) do them cheerfully. Since several friends have asked, I'll list out how we do them.
1) I took pictures of various tasks (dog food bowl, David taking out his bathroom trash, Drew watering plants.) Then, I had them printed out and I purchased two cheapy mini photo albums. Most mornings, I slide the pictures in and out of the books. Some of the pictures stay in (like the pictures of their beds, neatly made, with stuffed animals and pillows straightened.) Usually, David has six pictures and Drew has four. I figured that was a fair way to do it. Six years old=six chores. David still gets done with his faster, Drew tends to be a little pokey and they have actually never noticed that David has more! I love this photo album system. It's easy and works for Drew since he can't quite read yet. They can flip through and keep themselves on track without me having to prod them.
2) But sometimes, I don't even have time to slide pictures in and out of a photo album and we are trying to get out the door. So I devised a cheesy little game called, "Aye, Aye Captain." They have to come find me, ask, "What's next?" And then say, "Aye, aye Captain," and they run and do it. Silly, I know. This just helps me on days I am off track and have weird little odd jobs (pick up the pistachio shells Daddy left on the couch, gather all the library books, you get the drift.) The boys know they are still doing chores, but it changes things up and helps me get things accomplished while I put on make up.
3) The last way we do chores is this nifty idea I found on Pinterest. You take ping-pong balls and write various jobs on them. The blog I found it on said to set the timer, make it a race, and see who ends up with the most balls. That would be the opposite of helpful for me. One competitive boy would end up crying. No thanks. We have used the basket of balls in several ways though. One is to just have each kid draw two or three balls and that's what they have to do for the morning. The next is that if there is something they want, I will pay per ball. David and Drew have this nerdy virtual zoo on my iPad and sometimes they want to buy animal feed or a baby rhino or something and so I will buy ten stars for ninety-nine cents in exchange for a couple of balls being drawn and those tasks completed.
We have been doing chores for over a year. I think starting any younger than three would be hard. My kids were too distractible before three years old. I "train" them or show them how I want things done in the summer or over school breaks. Otherwise, we are too rushed for it to be worth it.
Lastly, here are a list of things that we do that there are either pictures of or that are on the ping-pong balls. Kids can do a lot of work that is helpful.
- pick up bathtub toys
- pick up toys upstairs
- wipe off bathroom counter with a Clorox wipe
- wipe out bathtub with a Clorox wipe (I think I have four or five chores that involve these handy little wipes.)
- brush dog
- play with dog
- lint roller the couch
- Clean glass doors or mirrors
- empty bathroom trash cans
- practice writing name
- dust baseboards
- dust bookshelves
- Swiffer
- wipe off cabinets
- sweep back porch
- organize Legos
- organize stuffed animals
- straighten books
It's not the Duggar chore pack system, but it works and is easy for me to implement.
Here is my basket of ping-pong chores.
