Our new chore list
We have revised the division of labor in our house slightly. Here is the newest job list, enacted on December 2.
Deanna (13yo): bathroom, floors (includes vacuuming living areas, sweeping and mopping as necessary)
Kaitlyn (11yo): kitchen (all but washing dishes), surfaces (mirrors, windows, appliances, cabinets and bookshelves, all as-necessary)
Lydia (10yo): dining room (our school room, which accumulates a lot of stuff), wash/dry laundry. Laundry is still kept separate by room, so she does 1 load/day/room and notifies the residents of a room when they have clean laundry to fold and put away.
Megan (8yo): living room, animals (dog, cat, rabbits, gerbils)
Natalie (almost 7yo): trash, deck
Becca (5yo): make bed, help w/bedroom, be a helper to the older sister of her choice.
All children are responsible for their bedrooms; each is responsible to fold/put away her own laundry.
We do have some trouble making sure jobs get done w/o nagging. I find that almost any sort of reward/consequence program works so long as we consistently enact it and inspect jobs frequently. I think this is key, and most of the troubles we have in work quality and work ethic can be traced back to a failure on my part to hold the children accountable. Don't misunderstand: they do very well overall and are a great help to me, but there is always room for improvement!
Ideally, jobs are maintained throughout the day, rather than just done once.
Honestly, Natalie and Becca have run under the radar for a while. They are capable of far more than they do right now, but Becca's going to continue to slip by just a little while I focus on Natalie, who is ready and raring to go as an official Big Kid.
Dinner dishes are still done on rotating shifts. Natalie and Becca clear and wipe the table (it gets wiped again by somebody older).
They are both learning to do dishes as well, and sometimes do the breakfast or lunch dishes with very little help. They generally enjoy this, and I make sure somebody older puts away the dishes for them so they can be inspected.
Related posts:
Did you enjoy this post? Subscribe so you'll never miss a new post!
Filed under: parenting
Sigh – I need to get me some kiddos
What you said about the importance of imspecting work reminded me of my summers at camp. With 10-12 little girls living in a cabin, things could get messy pretty quickly. We had inspection twice every day, and each girl had an assigned task. Having it twice a day made it easier I think, because things didn’t accumulate and it was good incentive to keep things clean all day.
It’s interesting to see the division of labor and what things kids can do at different ages. I am years away from having actual help from kiddos, (the 11 month old “helps” in a sort of creating-more-work-for-Mama way, but I figure I’d rather have her learn than do it myself quickly; and the new baby who comes in a few months probably won’t be much help for a while either!)
It’s encouraging to read about how y’all organize life with your children!
I need to get me some kiddos too…sigh!!!!
Kim, I have a mommy question for you about chores for little ones.
My 19 month old has one very important responsibility: putting away all the toys and books he drags out. He does a really good job with this, even doing it when we don’t ask. He seems to enjoy helping out.
He seems to be ready for a new “task” but I have no idea what could possibly be age appropriate. He’s been picking up books for 6 months, yet I’m at a total loss about what to do next. Your advice would be greatly appreciated.
I’m sure this goes without saying, but I’m not looking for something that’s necessarally “helpful” but just rather something that gives him a taste of helping around the house.