Chore Charts, Stickers, and Stars, Oh My!

The sheriff is in town and has laid (lain?) down the law.

This summer was different than it has been in 4 years. For the past 5 years, I have been a school administrator where I had to work 12 months and was not home with my kids during the summer vacation from school. My kids are 10 and 12 now, so the last time I stayed home with them they were 6 and 8. This summer I made the decision to go back to the classroom so that I could spend more time with my girls, and that meant that I got to be home from mid-June until school started (with no paycheck until September 30!) We had the best time! We went to the beach, the lake, the park, the library. We went roller skating, hiking, swimming… what fun we had! No routines except for planning what we would do next.

Fast forward to August 5. I go back to work. On August 12, the girls went back to school. Time for routine. But how to do that???

I’ve tried the chore charts. I’ve tried stars, stickers, check marks. I’ve clucked, cajoled, coached… why is it so hard to get kids in a routine?

Here’s what I’m trying right now, and if you have ideas I hope you’ll share. (We ALL hope you’ll share!)

I have no fancy chore chart. I have no stickers, no stars, nothing. Just a simple list that I am going to put on sticky notes in strategic places throughout (yes, throughout) the house.

The girls have responsibilities they have to do every day when they come home from school:

• They have to carry any clean clothes from the basement to their rooms and put them away.

• They have to make their beds each day.

• They have to pick out the clothes they will wear to school the next day (and no changing the next morning!)

• They have to read 20 minutes every night (everyone in the family will be doing this).

• Plus one more chore of my choice.

(Did I mention that I told them that I would give them a $5 allowance on Fridays when they have completed their list each and every day?)

I discovered that this is not only a great tool for my girls, but also for my husband. I went to my oldest daughter’s open house last night, and everyone in the house knew what needed to be done! My youngest daughter was in a great mood last night, and I’m hoping it was because she knew exactly what was expected of her. It was probably because the routine is new. I’ll keep you posted on how the progress is going after they’ve done it for a week.

And if you’ve got any ideas for establishing routines or stories about motivating your own kids, please pass it along!

Tagged as: chores, family, motherhood, parenting, positive attitude