Chores. Family Work. Zones. Jurisdictions. Whatever you call them at your house they are a necessary duty that needs to be performed in order for your home to run smoothly, be clean, and maybe even somewhat organized. I say that because my house is so not organized, and sometimes its not even clean or running smoothly. It all depends on who is in charge of what.

Over the years we have tried a few different methods – colorful chore charts, mommy/daddy bucks, chores on craft sticks, etc. Nothing has stuck except for the good old fashioned assigning of tasks and then actually doing it with my children. There have been two methods we have used with success for assigning the work that needs to be done. For years we have used a weekly cycle detailed in the post, Family Work. I really recommend reading that before reading the rest of this post. Some of the pros of that method:

• no confusion as to who has what
• no complaints that so-and-so didn’t do it yesterday so I don’t have to do it today
• pairing children to learn to work together

At the beginning of this year we decided to try something a little bit different. It is pretty much like what we had before only instead of a weekly rotation we are on a three month rotation. As one of my kids said, “That’s a long time to have a chore you hate to do.”  Why, yes, yes it is! But you know what? They are learning how to clean more effectively and quickly.

The only responsibilities that are still on a weekly basis are the kitchen/cooking and animals. The kids also aren’t paired together as much – they each have specific responsibilities they are in charge of. My duties are to work with the younger ones and teach them how to clean properly. I also take over the chore of the one who has kitchen. For instance, this week Semisweet is cooking so I am doing her main chore of taking care of the living room.

In assigning tasks I take into account the age appropriate skills of my children {another great post to read}. I also have them write down all of the chores in three columns: like to do, don’t mind doing, hate to do. They each get a good mix of those on their list of responsibilities. We no longer have a chart. Instead I printed out chore cards for the younger kids using the ChoreWare, a software developed by Titus2 to go along with the Managers of the Their Chores book. You can definitely create your own set of chore cards. Ours are numbered so the kids know exactly what order to try and do their chores {clean off and wipe counter comes before sweeping the floor}.

The cards are placed in clear plastic sleeves that clip to their clothes. As my kids complete a chore the card is moved to the back of the pile. They know they are done when the #1 card is on top again. They come and report they are done, hand over their cards, and I’ll take a quick peek to see that everything is done properly. The older girls have cards too but they just memorize what they need to do rather than clip the cards to their clothes.

Every now and then there is a child who refuses to do their chores, usually it is a younger one. The older ones have just learned it is easier to get it done and there are a couple that really like having a clean house so they actually enjoy working. What do I do with those who don’t want to work? The best solution I have found is to work with them, not do it for them, but to work with them. Most often I have found the #1 reason they don’t want to work is because they really don’t know what to do so it seems overwhelming. Working with them provides opportunities for one-on-one time, it helps with their motivation to work {especially if you make it fun and not gripe at them the whole time}, and they learn exactly what you expect them to do.