Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Tired of Chores

Lately I have become the ranting raving screaming yelling kind of mom and I hate it. My big problem is chores. I will send my kids off every morning to do their chores. Three hours and a lot of yelling later they are still trying to make their beds. It absolutely ruins my whole day. Why can't they just get in there and get it done? Don't they know we could then spend the rest of the day playing? I guess that is the key right there, they are playing! That is why they aren't getting their chores done.

Well, I have grown so tired of the fight that I keep inventing different ways for them to get their chores done. I tried rewards (such as treats, staying up an extra 15 minutes, watching a show, going to the park, etc.), but that only worked for a little while. We have also tried "obedient bucks". Money that they can earn for doing their chores, which they can use later to buy various treats, or toys from the "treasure bag". That only worked for a little while too. I found out that was more of a hassle for me to uphold the system and remember to give them their "obedient bucks". So tired and frustrated that nothing was working I came up with a new plan. I wrote the name of every room in our house on a paper and put them in a cup. We all take turns drawing out a room, and then we go clean that room TOGETHER. I think I have been missing a key point of motherhood. I would send them off to do their chores, while I did mine. Get them to work on a project or play with something while I worked on something I needed to do. I have come to realize I wasn't fully involving them in my life, and consequently not really being involved in their lives as much as I should. So the new plan for chores is working. They love cleaning together. I enjoy it too. Yesterday by 9:00a.m. my house was spic n' span. And we had the rest of the day to play and spend time together. I noticed that my girls tried to keep things cleaner for the rest of the day too, since they had to help clean everything up. And here is the best part....they are actually doing more work now than they were before!!! I hope this plan with continue to work, what a happy mom I will be if it does!

12 comments:

  1. Wow. That is inspired. I am going to copycat you and do that with my girls. You hit the nail on the head with this solution. Think of the side effects of this too...they are going to know all of the ins and outs of cleaning your house, so they will always know how you expect it to be done. BRILLIANT!!!! You are seriously one of the smartest mommies that I know!!!

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  2. Thanks for the kind comments over at my blog. You know, I think it is inspiring that your children even do chores. It sounds like you have found a solution that works for all of you. Congrats and happy cleaning! :)

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  3. Good plan! I'm with you on the charts/rewards ect. It's so much of a pain that the system quickly falls apart. I need to get my 3 and 2 year olds doing more chores...

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  4. Excellent, EXCELLENT idea!

    We love`the "clean up" song here... as long as I sing that I can pretty much get my kids to pick up anything! Its so nice!

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  5. we do a system around here that we have a "job chart" and when the chores are done for the day a point is rewarded. the points can later be used to "buy" rewards (sorta like the obediant bucks.) like there is "bring the family to Ryans" (a favorite resteraunt) or "stay up an extra 1/2 hour" good idea BTW!

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  6. Good job, Itybtyfrog! I have never found anything that consistently worked for the long term. I have to keep coming up with new ideas as they grow older. I think your idea is great to teach them HOW to clean. So, often I've just assumed that my kids know how, or SHOULD know how, just because I showed them once.

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  7. Great idea. My kids are always more willing to work if they feel like it is a group effort and not a punishment.

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  8. Great idea!
    We do what I call a 15 minute blitz. I just tell the kids I just need 15 minutes of their time. And we Zip through the house as fast as we can and we get a lot done.
    They think it is a fun game to see how fast we can work, and how much we can do!

    Hope your plan last a long time too!

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  9. That is a great idea. Unfortunately, I'm not sure it would work for me. My dd (4) and baby (18 mo) love to help me clean (I've blogged before that I think they love it a little bit too much) but my 5 3/4 yo hates to clean. He'll just sit and watch while the rest of us whirl like dervishes around him, cleaning like madpeople.

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  10. You are a smart mom! I will keep this idea in mind for later. Thank you thank you!

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  11. This is a great idea! I'll try it as a variation!

    We've tried lots of systems too, over the years--most are more work for me to keep up and all die out eventually. Lately, the thing that's been easy and has worked, has been to dole out fruit gummies for each chore completed! My 7 & 11 year old love this. It also works at reading time--they get one when they finish a chapter.

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