Job/chore system for kids - Guest Post!

~Michelle and I at Women's Conference last Spring~

Please give a BIG welcome to my guest blogger, Sunshine Michelle! 

Michelle is my older sister, who is just the MOST AMAZING MOM EVER! (with the exception of our incredible Mom, of course). 

Michelle's first name is Sunshine, but I grew up calling her Michelle (which is her middle name), and now she goes by Sunshine...well, old habits die hard so I still call her Michelle. Anyway.... :D

She has four incredible kids. Two boys and two girls. The oldest is 15, and the youngest is 8. She also has really great systems that she uses for teaching her children, and she is constantly teaching them great character traits and to recognize them in each other, as well as how to be responsible, frugal, and loving people. Michelle uses a great method that she uses for chores/jobs, and she's sharing it with us today. If you have any questions put them in the comments at the bottom of the post and I'm sure she would be happy to answer them for you in the comments. 

To download the printable cleaning cards Michelle has made CLICK HERE.

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I have 4 wonderful kids who are constantly searching for more jobs to do… NOT! But if you have one of those, feel free to send them my way. We used to struggle with jobs though and although there might be a little struggle, it’s not the meltdown drama we used to have.

First of all… having my kids do jobs is not something I do because it is easier and creates more time for me. HA HA HA HA that would be so nice! It usually takes more time, effort and reminding than I would like but the benefits are totally worth it. It’s like training someone new at work. You have to take the time to teach them, show them what they need to do better, correct mistakes, instill pride in their efforts… but they do learn the expectations and how to do it and later on, it does take less time and effort on my part.

First off, I divided the house into areas: kitchen, Library, Bathrooms and Front Room and their bedroom was a never changing area. Each of these areas had a daily to do list (cleaning card). I put the to-do lists in those plastic sleeves you hang on lanyards so they could grab one and “check them off”, we did it mentally but my thought was that they could use a dry erase marker, as they went through their chores. When they were done, they would bring me their card and I would check to make sure everything was done.

Things I learned:

#1 DO NOT rule: DO NOT RE-DO THEIR WORK! Either accept it as good or show them how to do it better and have them model it. Take in consideration their age and ability, but do expect them to do their best. What I have to remind myself is that it is more important to teach them these skills than to have an absolutely spotless house.

#1 DO rule: Praise, Praise, Praise! Let them know you appreciate their hard work and that they are doing a good job. It goes far further and longer than any monetary or short-term rewards.

Example:

BATHROOMS MONDAY Pick up Rooms Bed Floor Closet Dresser Dishes

You can see the standards for each day: Pick up rooms – They are in charge of maintaining the room. Bed, Floor, Closet, Dresser are for their bedrooms. That way they can remember each spot and its expectation. Dishes refers to putting the clean dishes away. (They each have an area of the dishwasher they put away too).

BATHROOMS TUESDAY Pick up Rooms Sweep & Mop Dust/Figurines Wipe Walls Wipe Sinks/Toilets Bed Floor Closet Dresser Dishes

They decided to have Long Days and Short Days. The other option was spreading all the jobs out throughout the week. You can see the additional jobs for their area in addition to their daily jobs. I was trying to teach them that maintaining their rooms was the easiest way to keep a house clean… I’m still not sure if they get it, but the house is cleaner than before.

Don’t feel like your kids are too young. I started these lists when my kids were about 5-7-8 &12. They can do it!

We DO rotate… which does cause a bit of a “reminder” time… remembering how to be thorough and meet the expectations. We rotate each month.

Rewards:

In the beginning, we didn’t pay them at all. About a year ago, we really wanted to teach them about money, so we decided to pay them 10 cents a job… x4 does add up! We did make it VERY clear that they do jobs because they are responsible for taking care of the house, we all work on it together, but they were only being paid so that they could learn about money and responsibility.

What did we do before attaching it to money? Their rewards were based on their areas…

“Bathrooms” Reward: Take a bath in the jetted tub!

“Library” Reward: Chooser (Music or if we happened to be going out to eat, they could choose from our options)

Kitchen” Reward: Sous Chef (Help plan and make meals)

Front Room Reward: Sit up front in the car (those who weren’t old enough, got to sit in the captain’s chair in the van) – this room was also the easiest.

They still have these rewards too. J

Good luck in teaching your kids to clean... and remember, your son or daughter-in laws will be so grateful to you for it! J

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Thank you Michelle! I'm going to be getting my girls cleaning on this system really soon. Thanks again! Love ya big sis :)

~Crystal

A feeding metaphor

This morning I was feeding Punkin oatmeal. She just turned two, by the way! So she has been feeding herself for a while. She still makes a mess when she eats certain things and oatmeal is one of them. I asked her if I could feed her and she said yes. I realized that it had been a while since I had spoon-fed her like this. Then while giving her delicious apple cinnamon oatmeal, that small inner voice said "When was the last time you spiritually fed her?"
I will guiltily admit that as I try to teach my children gospel principles throughout the day it's been forever since we've done Family Home Evening and really sat our children down to teach them about spiritual values and qualities.

I noticed a lot of similarities in the feeding process to the spiritual learning process.
As I scooped hot oatmeal I would blow on it before feeding it to little Punkin. She trusts me to feed her good food that isn't so hot that it will burn her. Nutritious food that will help her grow. If there are spills that happen I will clean her up and later when she feeds herself she will know how to clean up her own spills and messes. She will learn from me how to feed herself good and nutritious foods, and later to even cook and feed others.

All these things relate to spiritually feedings. Punkin trusts me to feed her the correct religious and Gospel principals that will help her in her life, and to teach her how to return to Christ after she has made mistakes. I will teach her to spiritually feed herself when she hungers and needs it, as well as how to share Christ's messages with others and teach her own children one day.

So, I have a new goal to really take the time to help them learn and feel the Spirit. I need to remember to be spiritually feeding them at least the same amount as I actually feed them physically.