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Dishes

For a little while we have been trying to have our boys help at home and be more involved in the household tasks (more commonly called chores). I have tried using charts and the likes but for some reason these never worked. So, on my mission to working on dilligence with our boys, we have instilled a few tasks that they have to do. They are: putting away their toys and setting up the table. They usually put away the toys together, and they set the table (one in the morning and the other one for dinner) on alternating weeks.
More recently, due to an interest in washing dishes (probably caused by a love of water), I have given them the task of clearing the table and washing the dishes. I purchased some plastic plates and bowls and now they wash and put awayin the dishwasher (we have a countertop one), alternating morning and evening. It's been working so far. I do not use charts anymore, since it does not seem to motivate them. What i do instead is do a lot of talking about being diligent, our need to do our part and the whole complaining mentality that pops up more often than I would like.




I have thought about giving allowances for chores, but somehow, in accord with my husband, don't seem to settle on doing this; mainly because we feel that we want them do do their part out of love and a sense of responsibility, and not reward motivated. So, we agreed to just start giving them allowances every week (25 cents for Joho and 30 cents for Zach). It will not be directly connected to the tasks that they do, but we will make the point (we have not started yet) that since they do help in the house they will start getting their allowances.


For those looking for systems, there is a very nice one at handipoints. I did not use it myself, just because it would not work for my kids, but it does look pretty useful. A few other sites are also, Workingmom.com  and Notebookingnook (scrool down to the page there is a nice school and chore chart free printable).

Have a great day, Joelle

Comments

Anonymous said…
It sounds like a lot of people struggle with payment issues, and feeling like kids should not neccessarily be paid for the chores they do. This is our biggest issue right now. We give our kids (the older 4) zones in the house that they are responsible for, and checklists to help them with that. They also need to clean their bedrooms. But, we can never quite figure out what kind of reward system to use...money, small tokens...etc... It bugs us though that we give consequences for a lack of diligence, but not enough rewards....Anyhow, thanks for your thoughts, and I love the pictures of your little guys having fun at the dishes!! It's funny how they love some chores, but other chores are like pulling teeth! God Bless

Elizabeth :-)
fruitbuns said…
We find a chores chart works excellent for us, ut we have had the same chart for 2 years and the dc have memorised their jobs!
Anonymous said…
We also teach them that they are part of the family so this is their responsibility with chores. When they complain we remind them in the Bible we are to do all things without murmur and dispute.


As for allowance, we don't give it to them. We let our children know if they want to do something extra around the house they can and we will pay them ( wipe down cabinets, baseboards, vacuum, etc...). They have to ask first though and the job must be to our satisfaction ( we "grade" them according to their age and ability.


Just a thought for you guys.

Christine

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