JEI {4}: Chores

,

Welcome to the weekly link up, Just Enough Info (JEI).  The internets can be a great source of community, and I’d love to get to know you better!  Feel free to share your answers in the comments or link up if you have a blog.  You can see our first link up here.

The topic of the week:  Chores

1. What chore should you be doing now instead of answering this question?

Name a chore.  Chances are I’ve got it to do.  Dishes?  Check.  Laundry?  Check.  Sweeping?  Check.  School planning?  Check.  Paying bills?  Check.  Just so we’re clear, check means still needs to get done for the day.


2. Do your kids have chores? If yes, what’s your chore system?

The system in our house is that we occasionally ask our kids to do small tasks like putting away their shoes or getting the toothbrushes ready before bed.  These are often met with a baffling amount of wailing and gnashing of teeth.

As part of our African staycation, we met with a man from Kenya.  He talked about taking the herd of cattle into the forest and back as a child, which was an all day job.  But putting clean laundry into drawers is.  just.  too.  much.  for our kids.

To be fair our history of chores is tricky.  In her earlier formative years, Cee was sick and could not do chores much of the time.  She couldn’t get off the couch, let alone tidy.  After a while, requiring Elle to do tasks without consistently requiring the same of Cee seemed to build resentment.  Rather than foster this Cinderella complex, I just took care of everything.  Now that things are stable, we need to work out the bugs in sharing responsibilities.

I actually listened to the audiobook Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World a few weeks ago because I fear my kids becoming permanently lazy.  It was recommendable.  We already live pretty simply, which is a big part of fighting entitlement.

I want to create a culture of “we’re all in this together!” in our family, but the message seems lost on the kids.  The idea that the family needs all of us in order to function doesn’t inspire action and loyalty like I’d like it to.

Everyone functions better with assigned times and tasks, but I am THE WORST at following through and enforcing.  I don’t need another system to lose track of.

The other impediment to chores is competition.  Everyone is convinced the other yo-hos aren’t pulling their weight.  Shared chores = death.  We’ve got to separate tasks so there isn’t a running tally of exactly how many Legos everyone has picked up.

I came up with this schedule for the new school year.

dsc_0544

I tried to separate tasks into “stars” and “hearts.”  Each girl is a star or a heart for the day and completes the coordinating jobs.  I write a star or heart on each girl’s notebook in the morning so they know their assigned areas.

It’s worked better this way than completing everything together.  We don’t do allowances yet.


3. If someone gifted you a housekeeping service, would you use it?

Probably not.  I’d have to clean before the cleaning person came, which defeats the purpose.  On the other hand, one of the nicest things anyone did for me was break into my house and vacuum/tidy things while I was gone and our family was in crisis.

So…if someone told me about it ahead of time, it would stress me out.  But if it magically got done, I could swallow my shame as long as the cleaning person promised never to talk.  Ain’t nobody need to know about what’s living under my oven.

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!  You can catch new posts via facebookbloglovin, or email subscription (above).

Be sure to visit my JEI co-hosts Jessica, Kirby, and Kerry and any other linker-uppers this week.  You can also follow along with the Zelie Group on facebook. ?

 

Zelie-Group-Link

What do chores look like in your house?  Link up or comment!

 

The questions for next week:
What is your mom beverage of choice?
What do you do to relax?
When was the last time you got away with girlfriends or alone (and the grocery store does NOT count)?

5 Comments


  1. // Reply

    Good for you for trying to bring more balance to the chore situation, in light of your family’s situation with Cee’s health. It’s important that Mama does not crash and burn either due to carrying the full load of everything.

    I do love having a once monthly housekeeper. It has been worth it to me to do the major tidying up before the team comes, plus it keeps me keeping the house much neater all month so that the tidying up is quick-and-easy before they come.


    1. // Reply

      You make it sound lovely and not stressful at all. 🙂


  2. // Reply

    I love your schedule and how it has pictures for the little ones to see and understand what is expected! I need a chore chart like that. I am not all that great a drawing but I might just have to try to make one! You are so inspirational to me. You seem to go with the flow a lot… I need to be better at that.


    1. // Reply

      Thanks, Jessica! I figured it would be faster just to draw it than to look for clip art.


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *