How we do Chores

Admittedly, I'm not a good housekeeper. It's a real struggle for me. Even in the summers when we aren't doing school, when I don't have the excuse of a packed schedule, I'm just not a great housekeeper. I have every intention of keeping my not-so-elaborate schedule going that I created with the help of a yahoo group years and years ago. But I'm that person scrambling when company comes calling. I try, but I'm rarely successful at keeping a clean and tidy house. There are times when I'm close to taming that monster, more often, though, I'm not.

However, I'm determined to help train up the boys in being helpers in the family because they are a part of this family, and it helps me out (and eventually their wives). It's part of their Royal Ambassador pledge to keep themselves clean in body and mind, and it's my duty to train them up in those ways. So...we do chore charts. This happens to be a recurring subject with so many moms that I know, so I thought I'd share what we do. My oldest is 10, my youngest is 6 if it helps in figuring out what they've been assigned to do. We change up the chore schedule about every six months to give the youngest new chores he can now accomplish and even out workloads or add new skills.

click on photo for digital element credits

The boys seem to really like this version, and it's easy for them to find their names and get going on their day. The job jar is full of assorted jobs that add a bit of spice to their day since they never know what they're going to get. They can also use the job jar to earn extra money during the week. We don't pay for chores to be done because that what we do being a part of the family. But they can earn extra money for doing extra chores. Always amazing how much more gets done when there's a new Star Wars toy coming out!

If you digital scrapbook or have access to a photo editing program that allows you to use .tiff or psd files (layered files), you can download a copy of the undecorated template for this chart here:
http://www.4shared.com/file/142218947/908e60fc/dbaldwin-chorecharttemp.html


Now - to just go and create one for myself :)