Chores chores and more chores

I ponder this every now and again. My kids just have no clue that other kids help out aroudn the hosue more than they do. They really have it easy. I have it hard. Or really we have a messy house.

I have a friend who has 7 kids and on on the way. I have NEVER seen her house a wreck. Honestly, it is immaculate. And she amazes me. Her kids have a wheel on the fridge and they have set chores for the WEEK! They are like mopping, vacuuming, dishes etc. So each child has one for the week. My kids get mad when I aske them to empty the dishwasher. Okay, MAD isn't the right word "WHY ME?" are the right words. Hmmmmm.... My job as a mother is to teach them to be responsible and I'm failing. They don't listen to me, they WILL listen to dad. Why is that?

I have thought about following my friend's example, but my kids don't want to be in charge of the dishes for a full week. Honestly, neither do I. That si why I keep thinking of ways to get them involved.

I was reading one of my favorite blogs http://thepioneerwoman.com/ and ran across a contest she did. And I MISSED it darn it! Oh well. The contest was for a book called "Choreganizers" She was giving TEN copies away! And I missed it! You can go here http://thepioneerwoman.com/homeandgarden/2008/08/choreganizers-motivation-for-helping-around-the-house/ and see what th ebook is like. I think I want to buy it. I LOVED the fact that it has enough stuff for SIX kids. Now, I only have five (that is enough right?). Usually there are only enough for 2 or 3 kids. I need to raise resposible kids...all five. I can't leave one out, now can I?

I have a confesssion to make. When I went to live with my dad at age 12, well he had a live in maid. From age 12 to when I left home I had some one clean up after me and do my laundry. I was spoiled rotten. I hardly did a thing! You know what that taught me? Not a lot, I tell ya. It didn't teach me to keep my room clean. Didn't teach me tokeep up with the dishes or laundry. And GUESS what? Uh huh! You guessed it, I struggle daily. Moral of that tale is, don't have a live in maid. And don't let it be you, get your kids to help. I'm trying to learn that all now, I have five kids, I'm behind on the ball game. Better late than never, eh?

So what are the things that work for you? Anything? Bribes? Throw me a bone here. Please.

Comments

Marilee said…
My boys have a REALLY hard time wanting to pitch in and help. One thing we tried was to put Mom and Dad on the job chart. That little trick has worked pretty well. Sometimes kids don't realize that they always have clean clothes in their drawers and warm food to eat (or at least that it's prepared for them one way or another) and those things Mom has done "behind the scenes". So by putting ourselves on the jov chart they feel like that we ALL take part in the daily household chores. Call me (465-5047), I have made a cute job chart that I can print out for you.
2:19 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Facial cellulitis

Image
Leave it to me to get the weird things! This is the second time in a mont that I have been "blessed" with this strange ailment! The last day of antibiotics (shot) last time was March 18th. I had started with Augmentin and that didn't work. They gave me a good shot of rochepin (a peanut butter shot) and that seemed to make a big difference quickly. I went back and got another, after the second I noticed remarkable improvement. I was SO excited! Then on Monday it started foming back. So it lasted two weeks. The next week we just did Rocephin shots. OUCH! I went round and round with the insurance company about an IV versus shots. The doctor recommended the IV because it would be less pain. I opted for the shot when I realized that the ER visit for 5 days would be about $400-500 a day. OUCH. So I got 5 rocephin shots that week. It was so much better by that Friday (18). YEAH! Fast forward to this past week. I was having similar pain and wrote it off as a sin
Read more

Goodbye Nala (graphic warning)

Image
  The past 22hrs have been excruciating. 22hrs ago we were sitting down to a late dinner after helping buck hay. Ramen Noodles, the dinner of champions, ya know. We heard this HORRIBLE noise. None of us had a clue what it was. Someone said "It sounds like someone is dieing. Little did we know it was OUR dog! Scott went out to investigate. He was gone for a few minutes and when he came in, he had this look. I said "Do I need to come?". "yes" was the answer I popped up and threw shoes on. When I went outside I saw a car in the middle of the road with a dog BEHIND it. My thought was it was Danny and Nala was sitting there worried. When I went up the boy (17) driving said "she ran out in front of us". It took a minute to realize he was refering to my dog. She was on the ground mangled. Her back legs were a twisted mess. Not much blood but you could hear her troubled breathing. I thought the problem was just her legs. Later I found out d
Read more

Brazil

Just over three weeks ago, I recieved a phone call as I was getting out of the car to pick up pizza. It was a interesting conversation.... Scott: Uh, Hon, they want me to go to Brazil. Me: REALLY!!!??? WOW! Scott: ya, the catch is it is for TWO WEEKS. Me: I WANNA GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Scott: you don't even have a passport. Scott served his mission in Sao Paulo South and came home 21yrs ago! He has forgotten a lot of his Portuguese. His company wants him to go set up a firm down there with their products. Scott is a no brainer chioce...been there done that type thing. I have asked him many times he wanted to go back. He was never very excited about it. When the phone call came and his voice was exuberant, I KNEW he HAD to go. Two weeks alone with the kids or not, he NEEDED to go. I thought I would solve the no passport issue fast and said "you can be there for work, then I'll meet up with you!". Sounded perfect! It would take me two weeks minimum to get my pa
Read more