A new year – time for a little housekeeping…it’s time to go back to the charts. You know, the one that has the list of projects that you’ve assigned to your children with space for stars. The responsibility chart!
I have the hardest time with this. I start out every few months with the best intentions – then after a few weeks. Flop. Over.
I created these great “mommy bucks” that I had printed – if you’re interested in one, let me know and I can make one for you too. My kids loved them. Each has a photo of me and the boys. You’d have to see them to appreciate it. I’ll try and post an image here. I know you’ll think I have too much time on my hands – which is honestly not the case at all.
Anyway, so it’s time to re-ignite the responsibility chart in my household. I need boys that can help out with the housekeeping and do something around here besides look cute and have fun. It’s always hard though for me to decide how to structure this. How much is a job worth? How many jobs are appropriate? Are things you expect – such as brushing your teeth – something to give a reward for? I guess it depends on the child and his age. I would reward my 3 year old for teeth brushing because he’s still trying to get into the routine, whereas my 9 year-old is already there and I expect him to brush regardless.
So what ‘ve decided is that the 3, 6 and 9 year-olds each have “jobs” catered to their age and what I need to do around the house. I will not raise lazy boys! The garbage officer (person who goes around the house and checks all cans to make sure they’re cleared of trash), the cubby control (person responsible for making sure the cubbies don’t look like a cyclone came through), and the toy police (makes sure toys are where they should be and alerts me if they are mistreated, broken or not put away properly) are in addition to their jobs. They’re more like opportunities to be in control rather than to be controlled.
As far as jobs – bringing in the outdoor cans, shoveling snow on the walkway, setting the table, bringing their laundry to the laundry room, fixing their bed are examples of some of the jobs I appreciate their help on. Each task is worth a point. If each task is completed they earn their age in mommy dollars (depending on their age/jobs). If they do something really wonderful, they may receive a bonus buck. Likewise, if they do something I’m not happy with, I reserve the right to withhold payment (partial or total – depending on what happened).
I give them mommy bucks – which are equal to real bucks. They are to save their money – when they want to use it, they can cash in their mommy bucks for real bucks. It’s effective, they love when we create the system, I just have a hard time keeping up on it. I really don’t know why? It’s a win – win. They learn responsibility, build confidence and they help me out too…So, I shall try again.
