Children helping

I have tried many, many, many different ways of getting my kids to do chores and help around the house. All have failed miserably and left me angry and frustrated and my kids crying and frustrated.

As I was reading Raising Godly Tomatoes I realized what was wrong. I would assign jobs and then go off to do something else while they worked. Two to a room. Well this did not work because they were left to their own ways. My oldest especially does not do well without supervision.

So last week I decided to switch things up a bit. I pulled out different colors of construction paper one for each room of the house. I pulled out baggies for each color. I wrote down what needed to be done in each room for the day and the week. On the back I wrote whether it needed to be done daily or weekly. Now we go one room at a time and everyone picks a job from the bag. If it can't be done right then, like mopping needs to be done last, they put it back and pick a different job.

We do our weekly jobs on Monday. It takes a really long time right now. :)

The kids love it. They keep telling me how happy they are to be all working together. I am there with them most of the time able to laugh and direct as needed.

I also came up with table chores to do after every meal. They draw for these jobs as well. Clean off the table, clean off the highchair, rinse off the dishes, put away the food, sweep and spot clean. While they do this I get everything ready for our family time.

This is our second week of doing this system. So far it's a real keeper!