Chores

I have never been good at enforcing chores. Often times, when the kids are wanting something at the store, I'll tell them that if they want to do some chores, they could get whatever it is they are wanting with the money they earn. The chore duty lasts maybe a day, if that. The kids occasionally will tell me they want an allowance. I tell them that they can earn an allowance if they do chores. Well, as stated before, that doesn't seem to last long. I am never good at following through. It also doesn't help that I never have cash on me, in this debit card world. Well, that is going to change with the banking we have here. We have to pay for a certain number of transactions per month, and if you go over, which we have, you get charged $0.55 per transaction, and apparently $0.75 for checks that clear when you have gone over your allotted number of transactions in a month! Because of that, we are going to switch over to cash. We can't switch over to credit cards at this point, because if we use our American credit cards here, we get charged a foreign transaction fee. We also have had troubles trying to get a Canadian credit card. I know Scott has spent several minutes on the phone a few different times trying to get one. So, until that happens, we will be using cash. Good news in the allowance department!!

In our new house, we have alot of carpet. Well, okay, it's not alot, but it's light colored. Pets, kids and carpet don't go together. I also am not a big vacuumer. I want to be, but again, another chore that gets put off and eventually neglected. I don't want that to happen here. And so far, it hasn't. Mostly because with this carpet we have, you can tell that it needs to be vacuumed, and then once it has been, it looks so much better. The carpet we had in Bismarck looked the same, whether it was vacuumed or not, which also added to the problem of neglect.

After moving here, I think I tried making sure the kids were happy by buying them a toy here and there. When we would make a trip to Winnipeg, all I would hear is "Mom, I want this....." "Mom, can I have that?" It was wearing me out. So, I was trying to think of a way that I could implement a chore chart that would last, and what chores would I put on it. Another issue was where to put it. Our stainless steel refrigerator is not magnetic, so I can't hang it on the fridge (a blessing in disguise!). I had an idea. I have a large bare wall in the laundry room, and I might as well put it to use.

Here is what I came up with.

Gage's chores are listed in green (G-green) and Emma's are in red.........no explanation needed. This calendar is also used to help me remember when certain activities are, eliminating the need to have a regular calendar hanging on the wall somewhere. I have ordered a "Chore Chart" from my sister's Uppercase Living Party, so when I get that, this calendar will be for school and activities and the chore chart will be for chores. I will also have a space for SCOTT! :-)

Since moving here, Brie has become a little more "high maintenance." Only because I want to save our backyard. We have a dog run that we are making her use for elimination. She doesn't really like this. She can't find "just the right spot" to go, making it a nuisance. She constantly needs to go out because she might not have found "the spot" to go, and just decided not to. Really, she needs to be walked, which isn't happening. Scott is not good at that. Neither am I, but she's not "my dog." Maybe I will add that to Scott's chore list? Anyway, it became a fight, as to who had to let Brie out the next time, and the next time. I told the kids that if they would help me with the task of letting her out every 10 minutes (yes, I am exaggerating just a little), they could get a tally mark. Tally marks mean "extra" chores were done. You can see those in blue at the bottom of the calendar. (Now you understand why I have recruited help with this job! UGH!)

Anyway, the chore chart is WORKING! Of course we haven't had a payday yet. The kids want paid per chore, right after they finish doing it. I told them that's not how it works. We decided that PAY DAY would fall on Scott's pay day. That should work. We should have some money to pay them, right!? ;-) For some reason, they didn't get paid on the 15th, like they should have. I guess they didn't ask, and I didn't think about it. Their first pay day is coming up tomorrow. I haven't decided yet how much they should get paid. Today I told them that tomorrow is pay day, and they should do their best to do as many extra things they can. This is what I got out of Emma!

I swear I didn't suggest this to her. As a matter of fact, I was looking for her in the house, and after hollering a few times and she didn't answer, I had a surge of panic run through me. Then I noticed her coat and snowpants were missing, so I looked outside and found her hard at work! When she came in she said, "How much is that worth Mom!?" Hmmm.............good question Emma! Aren't those rosey cheeks adorable?

Maybe you could give me some allowance tips? Here are their chores for the week:

Sunday: Take clothes to the laundry chute.

Monday: Put clothes away

Tuesday: Empty all garbage cans except the big one in the kitchen

Wednesday:

Thursday:

Friday: Vacuum bedroom

Saturday: Gage vacuum upstairs stairs; Emma vacuum stairs to basement (they switch each week because no one likes to vacuum the stairs to the basement. "It's freaky down there Mom!"); Clean bathroom sinks.

For the month Emma has approximately 35 tallies, plus shoveling snow. Gage has approximately 30 tally marks.

What do you think all of this is worth?

And, all of the chores were done. Nothing was skipped. Now, it's my chore to keep this whole operation working!