Eleventy-Two

They say that necessity is the mother of invention. In my case, necessity isn't always enough. In MY case, *desperation* is the mother of invention.

A couple of weeks ago, DH went to Chicago for a 6-day business trip. That's when the desperation set in. He left on Sunday, and by Wednesday, I was exhausted and overwhelmed with the disorder in my home. I decided it was time to overhaul the old, boring chore charts. I needed fresh motivation to involve my kids in the household chores. Their 4-month chore-free vacation was about to come to an end (and no, it is not a coincidence that my baby's age exactly matches the duration of their 'vacation'....)

The new chart has been a great success! The first day, Rory and Gisele cleaned the whole house for me. Rory said, " Mommy, I did SO much chores today! I did more than Eleventy-Two!"

Gotta love it.

So, here it is...the new, improved chore chart:

The top section is entitled 'Basics for Daily Happy-ness'. These are REQUIRED daily tasks, and must be completed before any optional tasks can be done. The required tasks are personal prayer, scripture study, clean bedroom, and brush teeth. There is a picture of each of these tasks, so even the non-readers know what they are to do.

The second heading reads 'For Extra Happy-ness, choose some of these, too'. Beneath the heading are pictures of various optional chores. They can choose as many of these chores as they like, but only after their required tasks have been completed. The idea is INITIATIVE. I don't ask them to do any optional chores but, if they do them, they get a tally stick in their personal chore can. They also get sticks if I see them being extra helpful, having an extra-fantastic attitude, or otherwise 'catch' them in any act of wonder. At family council each week, we give them a quarter for each stick they have earned during the week.


When they ask for a toy at the store, I just remind them that they can choose whatever they want to buy once they have enough chore money saved up. It has been great motivation for them to 1) Get their required tasks done, thereby forming good daily habits and 2) Go the extra mile and *choose* to help out around the house. It has also eliminated my dread of nagging them to do their chores every day.

Yippee! Let's hope this works for at least a few months. It helps so much when they are happy to help out. I'm so lucky that they will still work for quarters, and I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.