Chore Charts

I have been talking to my friends recently about chores and schedules since school is upon us. I have noticed that when my boys are on a fairly consistent schedule everything in our house runs smoother. I also read something from Christina in her blog Hands Full and Loving It (mostly). She made a comet I whole heatedly agree with:

"Want to know a secret? It doesn't really matter what system you use to get your kids to do their chores. What matters is that you change it every once in a while."

I have notice I receive less resistance when I switch up the chores every few months.This is very brief overview since we will be changing again because of school season I have to work out new schedules.

For now Erik is responsible for sweeping after every meal (the first two he can do with the sweeper) after dinner he has to sweep (with the broom) and mop. This is usually not done until the baby is in bed though because we have had a few accidents. He also needs to go through and make sure the kitchen counters are tidied up.

Jeremiah is responsible for unloading the dishwasher. He also has to wipe the table and chairs after every meal.

They are both responsible for keeping their room clean and doing general pick up. Depending on the day I let them know if they have extras IE Erik wash dishes or Jeremiah wipe kitchen counters.

Matthew has to do chores with me and as I designate. He is old enough to do them but I do not expect him to remember what they are without telling him. Also, he still does better with specific directions IE go put this toy in the play room.

Seth is growing into the lets see how much havoc I can wreck stage so we usually just try to distract him and get him motivated to throw things in the basket or box. This sometimes backfires as he will dump it or try to take the things out faster than you are able to put them in.