Friday, March 29, 2024
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    HomeVerified WritersPhyllisSummer Chores - Getting kids to do them!

    Summer Chores – Getting kids to do them!

    Every year I think to myself, “balancing house, kids, work, and all that in between is going to be a nightmare”, and it usually is.  I do not stick to lists that well and I really believe I have an adult form of ADD.  I swear, I can’t stay focused to save my life.  Maybe I am just trying to do too much but that is what moms do, right?  We do everything and we do it with a smile, or a grunt…either way, we are our own version of SuperMom.  I digress…. back to summer and the kids chores! 🙂

    In my quest for a more balanced summer, I have decided that I am going to give the kids a summer chore list.  There is no reason for soon to be 15, 12 and 9 year olds to go through the entire summer not lifting a finger to help SuperMom out.  I mean, every SuperMom needs their little Robin’s right?  Ok, so I found a nice printable on Pinterest for Kids Summer Chore Charts {I don’t have the direct link to it, but if you search Pinterest you will find there are plenty to choose from}.

     

    I tried to add chores that were age appropriate for the kids and that were easy to keep up.  I didn’t want to overwhelm my little beasts, so I am starting out small and working more jobs in as the summer progresses.   I have also created a list of money making chores since they are getting older, they can learn that if they want something, they can and have to work for it.  Those “jobs” are things like washing the van, vacuuming the entire downstairs level, vacuuming the van, cleaning windows, washing the kitchen floor by hand, wiping down the kitchen cabinets…basically all the jobs I hate to do! muwhahaha!

    On the younger two’s chore chart they will have to read 40 minutes per week and eventually that will go up to the required 60 minutes per week once school starts up again.  I have also purchased a summer learning book {bridging grades 3 to 4} for my youngest and she is to do one homework page per day through out the summer.   I have also added little reminders to her chart, like brushing her teeth and hair and she added her own, taking a shower.  Hey what ever works!

    It has only been one week that I have implemented my summer chore chart but I am very pleased to say that each child has completed each task.  I’m not saying they were jumping out of bed anxious to do their chores, but it’s all in the consistency!  I had to remind the older one because being a teen, while she is in summer school, she has an endless clock and I can’t wait until 10PM to load my dishwasher!  However, she had helped out more last week than she ever has!  She actually helped clean the house, loaded the dishwasher {which she insists on not doing on a daily basis because she doesn’t want to touch other people dirty silverware and dishes… oh boy, she will never work in the food industry, that’s for sure!} and she has taken her little sister to the park … and fishing {which she hates}.   My son, who is attached to video games and his iPod, I’ve had to threaten a few times, but he did put the devices down to get the jobs done, and then, went right back to playing his games.  My youngest has been the easiest and most excited chore doer.  She gets up every morning and first thing…gets those jobs done!

    As I mentioned, it’s all in the consistency and it is.  They wanted to go swimming yesterday and didn’t get their chores done in the morning, so I said… “You have to go to work before you can play.  That is how it is in the real world, so once you get your chores done, you can go out and swim”…yay mom!  I stuck to my guns and they rushed off to get them done and within 30 minutes they were in the pool having fun.

    I think this is going to be a well-balanced summer after all!

     

     

     

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