Year 8, Week 9: Chores

     I'm late getting this posted because our computer has been acting up with changing the display size by itself and it's hard to type while it switches from a font of 12 to a font of 72!  I still don't know the cause of it but it seems to have settled down, thank goodness.  Regardless, this is going to be a short one.  Remember that project I mentioned in my last post, the one that I'll be announcing soon?  Well, it's taking every free moment I have and so I'm going to make this post short and then read; something I haven't been able to do much in the past couple of weeks.  Let's get to it!

     Do your kids do chores?  Growing up, as far back as I can remember, we cleaned the house every Friday night.  Mom would blast music and we'd dance around and sing while cleaning.  I remember being in charge of dusting, but it wasn't like I just had a feather duster and could twirl my way quickly through this chore.  I had to remove everything, use dust spray and wipe/polish it all down.  Of course, it started out with mom doing most of it and teaching us how to do it.  Eventually, we were in charge of all of it.  Eventually, it became habit.

     Which is why my kids have chores.  They're listed for the kids on our schedule.  It's a different chore for each child on a particular day which is why you don't see it in that post.  One day one of them is doing all their laundry, from start to finish.  The next day the other kid does the same thing.  The rest of the week there's dusting, vacuuming and cleaning their bathroom.  And yes, they do it every week.  Sometimes, with the exception of laundry, the rest of the chores might be done on a different day (usually Friday) depending on how busy their week is.

     Cleaning their room is a daily thing but that's more focused on something I picked up somewhere (can't remember) called E.H.A.P. (Everything Has A Place).  I use it as a verb, telling the kids to "E.H.A.P." their rooms before screen time.  Whether tidying their rooms or cleaning the house music is always playing, though not aloud since they're listening to it via bluetooth headphones (I can hear myself saying, "Back in my day...Ha!)  The cool thing is they're playing some of the music I listened to years ago!

     As a parent of children with special needs it's good to get these habits in place as early as possible but any child can benefit from doing chores.  If you're not sure what chores your kids can and should do Intoxicated On Life has a great pdf you can download which also includes a chore chart.  This quick reference chart from The Happy Housewife is helpful too:

The Happy Housewife

     Either way, find what works best for you and your family.  One thing I do want to add is that I don't give the kids an allowance for the chores they're supposed to do; the things we as adults still have to do because I still do them and I don't see anyone paying me!  Kids need to learn to do things for the sake of doing them not because they're going to get something for it.  However, I do give them extra screen time for an exceptional cleaning job or we'll go out for ice cream if we tackle a huge project like cleaning out the garage or sorting through their closets.

     I get to make my announcement next week.  Until then enjoy your weekend and have a great week!

Allow-what?

     I've never given my kids an allowance.  Frankly, I didn't know where to start and I felt that "paying" them to do their chores was counter intuitive to what I was taught; that you help out around the house because that's what families do and you take care of what you've been blessed with.

     I've seen firsthand what that kind of payment system does to some kids, my son included.  As a child with special needs all of his behaviorists implemented a reward system (I think it falls under ABA Therapy) and while it may work with some kids with special needs, it backfired with my son.  He started to only do things if he was going to get something.  Before he even began the task he would ask what he would get.  Other times he would straight up ask, "What do you have for me?" before even knowing that anything was going to be asked of him.  Then he started asking people for gifts.  People that he'd see weekly, like the deli guy at Whole Foods.  This was obviously not acceptable.

     Hence, I was hesitant to give them an allowance.  I mean, I never really had one.  My parents graciously gave me money when I needed it and I knew to be thankful when I received it and to not be greedy; never taking for granted the hard work they put in to make sure we had what we needed.

     I was hesitant until I saw this:

T's Chore Chart.  I've covered the names.

     This was created by my eldest step-daughter for her three kids and she kindly shared it on Facebook.  My husband showed me and I immediately liked the idea.  My kids already have a chore chart; it was the allowance part that really caught my eye.  I liked that the $5.00 was already theirs to begin with but it's the child's cooperation and work that determined how much they actually got by the end of the week.

     Now, as I don't have anymore wall space for another whiteboard, I instead took their chore chart and tweaked it a little bit.  They are laminated so that we can use dry erase markers on them.  Their charts will be hung on a kitchen cabinet so that they can easily see what needs to be done and where they are (I think I saw a magnetic strip somewhere that I can stick to the cabinet and then just place a magnet on the back of the chart.)  Below is a picture of my son's chart, partially filled out.

My son's chart.  Just so you  know my daughter is at $3.90
Tick marks are $0.25 and dots are $0.10.  There was a lot of whining
and tattling going on.

     Since chores usually get done (It's the reminding that I have to constantly do and the tattling I always hear!) I chose to deduct $0.25 from their allowance.  Reminding them or repeating myself to get them to do something cost them $0.10 every single time and of course lying cost them a $1.00.  Brilliant idea T!

     I put this together rather quickly, so I may make changes as needed (luckily I have a laminator!)  Perhaps I need to re-word some things, but for now we're using this. I don't know if you can see it but on the bottom right I also have a small image that lists the Fruits of the Spirit.  This is to serve as a reminder what they should focus on as they do their chores and interact with others.  "give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Jesus Christ." -1 Thessalonians 5:18

     I also want them to learn how to handle their money sooner than later, which is the reason I decided to give them an allowance.  Financial responsibility is rarely taught and most young adults don't have a real clue how to go about it.  Giving my kids an allowance gives them a head start.  Out of their allowance 15% will go to the church, 15% will go into savings and the rest is for them to spend.  I probably should have put that on the chart as a reminder.  Oh, well.  See, I knew I'd have to make changes!

     Regardless, thank you T for coming up with this fantastic and easy chart.  Awesome!