Sunday, June 29, 2008

Chores For Pay

In the world of parenting you eventually get to the point/ages where the rug rats are fully capable of doing things on tehir own. At this point, with some preparation and encouragement, chore charts were introduced to my family. They worked for a little while but then novelty wore off and I became forgetful about pay and replacing full charts. Now that school is out and the childrens are currently unemployed, per se, I have come up with a new system of Chores For Pay designed to keep bored and broke children busy and less work for me. Genius non?.
Listed on a fairly short list are things like Wiping Down The Bathroom. I love Lysol disinfecting wipes....very UNgreen of me I know but they are fast, easy, and kill germs. Wiping down the bathroom includes wiping out the sink, the counters, the taps and the toilet area. Since they are the ones who miss I think they should take responsibility for it. This job, which I hate, is worth 50 cents.
Putting Away Laundry is worth 50 cents a basket.
Cleaning the Yard (which is code for cleaning up dog poo) is worth a whole buck.
Vacuuming an entire level of the house is worth 25 cents because lets face it, the vacuum cleaner does all the work on this one but having fewer things stick to my bare feet is valuable to me. Plus with the pet hair issues in this house it is a job that needs doing frequently.
Cleaning Up Bedroom including making beds and vacuuming is worth 50 cents because they rarely do it.
Garbage Duty 25 cents. Recycling also 25 cents. The theory is that maybe they will notice when trashes need emptying instead of just piling more in until it over flows.
I think its a pretty good plan so far though the kids have only done a few of the chores despite frequent reminders like "Gee...wonder what chores on the list need doing TODAY?" However I did mention the addition of Yard Cleaning for a dollar and Cameron jumped at it. And he's the LAZY one!!!!! Swweeeet.
If you tried this method of getting kids to do work around the home, what would you have on the list? Dishes don't work here as a chore because we mostly use the dishwasher and the kids can't reach some of the cupboards and I dislike broken dishes.

4 comments:

Tara said...

Washing the car? Cutting the grass? Those were my chores (around 11 or 12).

Suldog said...

Taking out the rubbish (or bagging it)? Changing beds? Those would seem to be possibles.

Barbara from Nova Scotia said...

We do unloading the dishwasher, and the other one dries while the man/child washes. Too high to reach a cupboard? That's what they invented the chairs for.

LOVE your playlist, chickie!

Montreal Mama said...

Kids will always do something for money! LOL