Chores For All

To some, the word chore can invoke fear like no other word, except your full first and middle name called by your Mom. (You do know what I'm talking about!) Well, for our little children, the word chore has always equaled fun! No I am serious! The kids think it is a riot that they actually get to spray something and wipe it. That they can really play with the water to load the dishwasher. Since each of them could toddle along, they have discovered the dryer is just about their size and Mom is much bigger - so they can help to unload it. Besides, when the clothes are so warm and soft, why wouldn't it be fun? Chore time is important in our home, as it keeps order and it helps train the children to take an important role and responsibility for supporting the rest of the family. We each contribute. Recently, since my children are getting older, I decided to start a chore chart. Every task is assigned to each child on a weekly basis. There are 3 categories of chores: daily, weekly, and bi-monthly. The daily chores are reassigned every week, the weekly chores are reassigned every month, and the bi-monthly chores every few months. I created a spreadsheet that lists the chores in one column and the responsible child in the next column. I assigned a color for each child so they can either look at their name or look for their assigned color.

Here Lil' Farmer is cleaning and arranging the shoe closet. He will pull everything out and sweep, then reorganize it.

Straight Arrow is loading the dishwasher. It is not done the way I would always like, but we are learning and teaching. He does a great job and the dishes do get cleaned!

Kind Heart is putting away the clothing that is folded. Everyday we have many loads of laundry, ranging from children clothing to adult, to towels, sheets, and more clothes. This is a big job and they are learning to put them away neatly.

Sweet Sis can do lots of work for a 2 1/2 year old! She is in charge of putting all recycling from the kitchen into the small recycling bin in the garage. One of the older brothers will then empty the small bin into the large bin outside of the house. Ours is the same size as the large trash can. We recycle a great deal so she has quite a bit of work to do!