One of the things we do at our house is: CHORES! For some, this seems like a bad, dirty word. For us, its a word that means: Teaching my kids how to succeed in life. One of the things that is so frustrating about kids that have never been taught to do chores is that when they are asked to do things at a job, they give a blank stare. This blank stare is something I never, ever want to be seen on my kiddos faces at their first (or 30th) job.

You’ve been there! I know you have, just like me! You ask your child to do something (take out the garbage, clean their room or put the dishes away) and bam…they look at you, make that huffing sound and look back at their phone or ipad. Honestly, that is one of those things that just makes me want to smash all of their electronics. (you know, that might be a great idea!!??–or is that too CRAZY mom? )

The thing is, we were meant to create an environment where kids GET to learn how to be grateful, know how to work hard and not be LAZY! It is our job as parents and if they don’t, they will learn somehow. It will probably when they are 19 and get fired from their job because they show up late and don’t know how to work! HA! We want to prevent this moment! We want them to succeed in all they do…especially when it is something that we absolutely have control over!

Chores around the house give our kids responsibility, teach them the value of a job doneright, a sense of accomplishment and teaches that when living in community means doing your part, (and sometimes more than your part, and that is ok.).
Imagine the opposite: college kids with no sense of responsibility, no value of a job done right, no sense of accomplishment and no idea that we all need to do our part to live in community. Sounds like someone I don’t want for a room mate or employee. Do you see my point now???

The earlier we can teach our kids these things…the better. And honestly, the best part is the we get help! We weren’t meant to be super moms! We were meant to be teachers!

What is working for us:

For the longest time (especially during busy seasons) we have given our kids 2 daily tasks. Load and unload the dishes. This is something that I despise and the kids (12 & 9) do a really good job at. I didn’t say perfect job, but that is ok. Part of teaching how to do chores is TEACHING. It takes patience on the parent’s part to teach a new skill and give yourself some time to teach and remind kids how to do the tasks that we are asking them to do. They don’t have to get it perfect the first time, but over a couple weeks, they will get it. By throwing up our hands and taking back the task, because we can do it faster and better ourselves…we are shooting ourselves in the foot! DON’T DO IT!!

This summer I developed a simple chore chart for them to do each day. Its very simple, but it takes away the guessing game of what is expected of them before they can have any electronics time. If they complete all the tasks, they are allowed 30 minutes of electronics. This includes PS3, Ipad, computer or TV time. Electronics time is like cash currency to my kiddos…we try to keep it on a pretty tight leash because its something they would do for the whole darn day if we let them. NO GO! Work before play!

Here is our chore chart. You could fill use the blank chore chart below and add in whatever chores you would like to add.

After we laid down the law, this has worked really well. The key to this chart is that there is a consequence that hurts….one that speaks their language. If they choose to partake in electronic time without finishing their chores, they will loose ALL electronic privileges for a whole week…while still being required to do their chores.