Chores, Schmores!

I have come to many conclusions as a mom. One, is that a clean home can set the mood and general feeling for everyone. Another, is that not one of us likes to clean it! So, I do whatever I can to make it as pleasant of an experience as possible!

About a year ago, we had one of those Saturdays with zero plans. Looking around, our home looked what most of our homes look like after a busy week. You know....lived in. Messy. A little "out of sorts." Normal! My husband, Chip, had to go to work that day and I was dreading the announcement to the kids of what our Saturday would consist of. I could already hear the groans see the rolling of eight eyeballs. I've experienced that many a' Saturday!! Chores, schmores, right?!  But I was determined to make this work day a fun day. That's when it all came to me - a new system that has worked like magic ever since! It is so simple! I don't know why I didn't think of it before.

I began by making slips of paper to be drawn by the kids. What was written on them is what made this system work as well as it did, and still does today. We do this at least once a week, and I can honestly say that my children look forward to doing chores. Yep, I said it - they look forward to it - they get excited!!!

Coming up with what goes on the papers is my favorite part! My goal is always twofold. One, is that the house gets clean and chores get done well. Two, is that FUN is had by all at the same time. Here is how that mission is always accomplished.

Fill out the strips of paper with regular chores, unique chores, fun chores, and simply FUN! You choose how many of each - depending on how much time you have, and just you want the whole experience to be like. Read on...

It is very important that a) the "regular" chores on the papers are not too big and/or overwhelming  b) there is a wide variety of all of the chores and c) that there are plenty of fun and/or silly things to draw also.

An example of a regular chore would be exactly what you might think. They key to this part however, is not to make it a big overwhelming chore. For example, one slip of paper would never say "clean the bathroom." Instead there would be a six different slips of paper. One paper in the bowl would say "bathroom sink." Another would say "bathtub." Another would say "toilet." One would say "bathroom mirror," or "bathroom counters" and another "bathroom floor." The kitchen is also broken up into many small chores such as "unload the bottom rack of the dishwasher" and "wipe down outside of the refrigerator and dishwasher." Or "third fridge shelf" - that means, clear that shelf, clean it, put everything back.

More examples of regular chores are:

• vacuum/sweep entry way
• straighten living room
• wipe down dining chairs
• empty all little trashcans
• clean sliding glass door
• transfer (put clothes from washer to dryer)
• throw load in washer
• dog poop (always the dreaded one.. it's like drawing the Old Maid!)

(you get the idea here of course)

The unique type chores are fun for me to come up with. They are typically chores that might not work in every one's home - only yours. And these are the chores that really vary from week to week. The whole key to this is fun, and variety. For example, we have a movie cabinet that always has loose DVDs laying around. I also like to keep movies that are watched the least on the very bottom and the most popular at eye-level. So, one of the papers will say "movie cabinet" and the kids know exactly what I mean. Another one might say "magazine basket". We keep one in the guest bathroom but seems to fill up quickly. There seems to be random things ending up in there all the time too, so that chore includes getting rid of the oldest magazines and making sure there is nothing in there that doesn't belong. Our silverware tray collects lots of crumbs because the drawer is right under the toaster. So one chore is usually to empty the silverware tray, wipe it down, and put them back nicely.

More examples of unique type chores are:

• Make porch look nice (sweep, straighten things)
• Clean out all trash out of the car (another would be non-trash)
• Hang up all jackets/coats (too many always end up on the closet floor during the week!)
• pantry (close open boxes, organize, crumbs on floor)
• clean out your backpack (if there is something like this that I would like all four kids to do, I put in 4 papers saying the same thing but if they draw it twice, they just throw it back in and draw again. Eventually, all four kids get it.)
• bring me 5 things from your room you can get rid of (there is always stuff cluttering their room!)
• clear top of washer and dryer (I hate those clutter places all around the home.)
• etc, etc, etc! Like I said - they are fun to come up with

I always love to make some very fun unique type "chores" also. These usually aren't chores that are not dreaded much. And they just make for more fun. Check out some of these I like to include:

• massage mom's neck (I'm a smart one)
• write in your journal
• send a thank you e-mail to gramma (or whomever)
• brush/play with mom's hair
• prepare a snack for everyone for after the chores
• tell each person in the room something you love about them
• entertain Ella! (the little one I take care of) This would work perfectly for a family with a child too young to participate - and I would make it so someone always has to be entertaining the little one! :)

I also always write down "ten things" on about 5-ish papers too. That means... look around and take care of ten things that aren't right. It usually means pick up ten random items, but it could also mean straighten the hand towels in the bathroom, or push in the dining chairs.

Most of the reason the kids truly do get excited to spend their day doing chores, is because of what the rest of the slips of papers say:

• Play a game on the computer! (I like to give them a specific game - more fun) There might be 5ish of these in the bowl.
• Make up a song on the piano!
• Choose something from the candy bowl and enjoy! (I always put plenty of these)
• Play solitaire!
• FREEEEEEEE TIME!!! (I always add several of these to the bowl - at least 10!)
• jump rope in the living room!
• DANCE! (it's fun to say "you may not stop dancing for the whole time- that's your chore!")
• Color a page in a coloring book!
• See how long you can balance a ball on your head.

There have been days that I just put about 25 or so "FREE" slips of paper in so they can think of their own thing to do. That's fun too.

Coming up with these is super fun for me, and there is always something different so the kids can have fun anticipating what they draw next.

Now for the logistics, and how exactly it is all played out.

Sometimes I fold up all the papers and put them in a bowl. Sometimes I spread them out flat all over the table. Again, even changing this up keeps things fresh, and that is important! Regardless, the kids choose one paper, one at a time. (I always choose the order of the kids choosing and make it different every round for the same reason - simply to keep it fresh).

Let's say Hannah chooses first this round. She opens it, and reads it out loud so everyone knows what she got and so I can do any explaining that might be needed. Then whoever I choose next does the same thing, until all kids have chosen and read their paper out loud. I yell "GO!"  - and they are off!

Sometimes nobody gets a fun activity, sometimes three of them do, etc. Depending on how much time we have that day, I might set a rule like "only one fun activity can be drawn per round." But there is always the rule that you cannot draw back to back fun activities. You have to have one "chore" (unique, regular or fun chore, doesn't matter) in between game, activity or free time.

Some chores might say "A or T" on it meaning "for Taylor or Aubrey only" - that is because if it's something like "fold laundry in dryer" - I just don't feel like Hannah or Jack can do it up to par yet. After a few times of doing this, Aubrey and Taylor started to really dread the "A or T" papers, so for fun I wrote "send a text to an aunt" on a couple of them because they are the only texting kids. This helped a lot knowing it could be something fun also. If I had younger children (ages 2-4 ish), I would make a special bowl for them to draw from and all the papers would say is the name of an older child. Then they would either help that child with their chore, or they would get to do the same fun activity with them.

Some of the rules include:

• If you groan about what your draw... your next "free time" or fun activity must be given to someone else and traded for a chore. We really go by "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit" here. They know that they might get lots of "good" papers next week!
• Once you are finished with your chore, you get to "chill" - relax until everyone is done with that round. (the one who gets a fun activity always hopes that there is a long chore for someone so they can spend a longer time with their fun pick!) Then they all pick again in my order!
• No trading slips of paper. Period. This just makes it clear for everyone and easier too.
• Whistle while you work! In our home, that simply means have a good attitude and make it fun however you can! There is always fun music playing - so they can literally whistle while they work too. That is a must for me.  :)

Everything about this system is awesome!! I think the reasons it works best are:

• The kids love the anticipation of what they might draw since there's always something new.
• If they draw something not so desirable... they a) want to finish quickly in hopes to have down time while the others finish b) want to draw again quickly in hopes of a fun one c) know that it's a chore that isn't too huge or overwhelming (unless it's dog poop!)
• We make it fun by always playing a great itunes list of "working" songs which are always very upbeat and fun to sing and dance to.
• The "fun" things are unique and/or unexpected activities they really enjoy doing.

I just love how it all works! In the end, I have happy children, and a clean home. (For that day at least!) I mean ca'mon... my home is certainly not always clean, and my children are certainly not always happy! But I still try my best. And one thing I know for sure, is that this is certainly the way that has worked best thus far. (It's about time, my oldest is 16)! It might not work for you, but maybe you can take something from it that does work for you, or maybe you can share it with someone who it could work for.

Questions or comments? Go for it! It truly is fun, and it has made working an enjoyable experience in our home. Who knew?!

Thanks for visiting!