How We Do Things

I have been asked by Christal who is a friend from Jr.high school days, was a bridsmaid in our wedding and whom I wish I got to see far more of, to do a post on how we do chores around our house.
A friend from Alberta who is a home schooling Mama to 7 sweeties and just rocks the whole Mom role, periodically does posts called "how we do things." I LOVE those posts because she is a great role model for me in my home. However I don't only learn from the way she mothers her children and encourages them in loving the Lord but her heart for pro-life issues is inspiring as well. You can find her blog here. Paige's Bloghttp://sojourner-ephraim.blogspot.com/

So here is my first "How we do things" post.

I started out on our chore journey when S (my oldest) was 4, B was 3 and JT was a newborn. Before this I didn't even know that they should be doing chores. So we struggled along until I found a product called a chorganizer and it got us off to a great start. A chorganizer is a system that comes with chore charts that have slots for 5 chores picture cards. Each child gets a chart and there are picture cards for all kinds of chores around the house. The night before or morning of, I put the chore picture cards in each child's chart. When they completed a chore they put the chore picture card into the slot at the bottom of the chart. Once all their cards are in the bottom slot and the chores were completed with a good attitude then they got a piece of Mommy money. They saved up their mommy money to buy things in the "chore store." So I had things like umbrella's, books, hats, dress-up items and other nicknack's that I put prices on and they could buy with their mommy money. The store was open on Saturdays and they could buy something or save up for something better if they didn't have enough. It might take them 11/2 weeks of happily doing chores to have enough for an umbrella for example. They loved seeing what their chores would be every morning and if I forgot to put the chores up they would be begging for chores! So this is how we started out and it worked very well.
I have gotten away from this system although I am thinking of going back to it for the 3 younger kids who need more little chores to do through out the day. Right now we do exactly the same thing everyday and it is working for us. At 7 am the oldest 2 go out to the kennel and spend 1 hour playing with the dogs and puppies. The youngest get ready for the day and this is when I want to implement the chorganizer system for them although have not yet done it. School takes up the rest of the morning starting at 8:30 with breakfast and reading the bible together and working on memorization. At 4:30 chores begin again. S cleans the bathrooms and hallways, B cleans the living room, JT cleans and vacuums the entrance and C cleans up the dining room and I take care of the kitchen while Coco colors at the island or plays with water in the sink. Because they always clean up the same area they can do it relativly quickly. Coco and C usually clean out the dishwasher although that takes place at random times through out the day. I think that I will start Coco on straightening the shoes in the entrance soon because JT really likes to work with Coco and is good at teaching him things. So this is how things get tidy before Daddy gets home from work. I also know that if things need to get tidy in a pinch we have a system ready to fling into action at a moments notice. As far as the basement/rec room goes, we don't have a great system up and running on a consistent basis. They do most of the cleanup there with Dad right before bed/wrestling time but this doesn't always get done. Another area that I have not been consistent in is getting the laundry done. For awhile before Christmas I always read aloud a chapter book after lunch and everyone folded their laundry during that time and I liked it but for some unforeseen reason I have not carried it on. Maybe I will get that back under control soon!
So goes the chaos is this regular zoo that we call home! We are FAR from having it together. There are parts that really work and parts that need revamping. Once my kids are parents I'm sure I will have it all down to a science, only then I won't need to have anyone but myself organized!
Happy Chorganizing!