Back to basics

A couple of years ago, I instated this lovely chore chart system with the kids to try to get them to help with all the work around the house.  It worked pretty well.  And then...spring sports hit.  And we never got it going back up again!  And that was TWO YEARS ago. 

Well, the kids have been doing SOME chores.  Every weekend Mary and Keith have to clean their pet cages.  Izzy, owning a pet which doesn't need a cage cleaned, has to make sure all the dirty clothes are out of her/Mary's room and the bathroom.  All three kids have to pick up the den and their rooms.  Frankly, I call it a successful weekend when the critter cages get cleaned.  Everything else gets filed in the "we'll get it next weekend" file. 

Then I saw that article in Family Fun about the Five Minute clean-up.  Did you read that?  Where this mom has everyone clean like the dickens for five minutes--and at least the clutter gets off the floor?  Well, I started having the kids do that with the den.  Only I'm meaner--I give them fifteen minutes to get it all picked up.  I've used this system twice, and it's mostly helped with the "She's not helping!" arguments we get around here.  And the "It's been an hour, WHAT ON EARTH HAVE YOU BEEN DOING?" yelling matches from ME.

But, really.  The kids do need to be doing MORE than that.  I want them to have fun and be kids, but I honestly can't keep up with everything (and the farther I get behind, the more I put it off and the FARTHER I get behind).  Really, if Laura Ingalls Wilder and Anne of Green Gables and all those girls and boys way back then could bake bread from scratch and build a fencepost or whatever by 12, then SURELY my kids can do more and LEARN to do more.  I'm a GS leader, for crying out loud, I know kids are pretty darn capable.  Why am I stressing myself out and doing EVERYTHING when I've got a pretty solid workforce of three living right with me?

So!  New(ish) chart!  And new rules!  I had a discussion with the kids how they get to start helping me in the kitchen on a more regular basis.  Not only are they going to help with the dishes every night, they are also going to help cook.  And since I hated all those "whose turn is it to do the dishes?" arguments I had with my own brother, I gave them a CHOICE:  alternate days or alternate WEEKS.  Oh, they ALL went for alternate weeks.

We drew straws, and this first week Izzy gets to be the helper.  Izzy is usually fun to have helping you, but I have noticed that I get more temper tantrums and "But I don't WANT tos" lately than I used to.  But this was all new, and she is totally into it.  Izzy has helped me cook every day this week and has been just way beyond excited about doing the dishes.  The DISHES.  It's been lovely.  And showing her how to do these things is helping motivate me to actually get them done.  Cuz I have a tendency to be just too tired after sitting down to dinner to get back up again to finish all the dishes.  But every day this week, I've gotten up to a (mostly) spotless kitchen (since, you know, midnight snacks do tend to happen). 

Next week is Keith's week, and actually I think he's the most excited of the three.  He does love helping me in the kitchen, and I've been kicking myself for not getting him in there to help me more often.  (One of the million reasons why I finally kicked myself in the pants to get this going.)

Mary's week will be interesting since we're on vacation that week.  And for some reason Miss Thing seems to think it's UNFAIR that she has to cook or do dishes during vacation.  REALLY?  YOU THINK?  Well!  Guess what, honey, we ALL do!  (This is the same kid who was angry that I made them clean their critter cages and rooms on Mother's Day.  "It's a HOLIDAY!  Why do we have to work?"  Why, indeed, Mary?  Why, indeed?)

Hopefully this won't peter out as the crazy school schedule starts.  ...Or the crazy spring sports start.  I think keeping it weekly will help since I won't have to keep track of "Well, Mary has Scouts tonight, so Keith will do the dishes, which means that Mary will have to take his night, but then Izzy doesn't go for five days because of HER Scout night and that's not fair...."  And I'll just have to keep looking for those 9-3 jobs so that dinner and dishes get done before the after school activities, anyway.  IF there were any of those jobs out there!  (Or any jobs of ANY kind--*sigh*.)