Chore Charts

Up until this past September, there has been very little routine in the kids visits with Jake and I. In the year that we lived in MA and they were in PA, we only saw them one weekend a month. In that small amount of time we wanted to have fun and do as much as we possibly could in that short amount of time because that's all we had. Our visits with the kids have changed a lot since we have moved closer and see them more frequently. We still go on adventures and have lots of fun together, but we also have more opportunities to relax and just be together. The kids are also adjusting to the idea that they have two homes. At our apartment in MA, the kids didn't have their own space, toys or clothes but here they do. It's taken a few months ,but they are finally referring to our house as "my house." That makes us happy because we want them to know that they have a place here all the time whether they spend lots of time here or only a little. This house is just as much theirs as it is ours. So with the craziness of the holidays behind us and the kids understanding that this is their home too, Jake and I thought now would be a good time to start encouraging the kids to help out with chores when they are here. We sat together on Saturday and talked about what chores are, what they can do to help, and how they can be rewarded. It was great to hear their input and see their enthusiasm.

They each made their own chore chart and chose which chore they wanted to do. We let them come up with the chore on their own and didn't assign them any.

Abby chose to help load/unload the dishwasher. She was excited to get right to it after making her chart.

Putting the silverware away can be tricky when you have two sizes of each utensil. But not for a smart girl like Abby, she just matched them up next to each other to see which one goes where.

Emma chose to do the laundry. Apparently, she already has some experience in this department helping out Mom and Aunt Judy. This works out great for me because there is always more laundry to do the weekends the kids are here! Emma was so amazed that our washer machine keeps spinning even with the lid open...I guess Aunt Judy's doesn't do that (Judy's washer is probably MUCH newer than ours!). She kept asking me if she could go watch the laundry...too funny:)

I don't have a picture of Nate, but his chore is to help Daddy with the trash. I think this is the perfect assignment for Nate considering he is not fully potty trained yet and does his fair share of stinking up the trash!! He also loves to take the walk to the dumpster with Dad.

Each time the kids do their chore, they get to put a sticker on their chart. Each sticker is worth a quarter and they get their pay at the end of the month. I hope their excitement about chores now is the same when they are teenagers!