A question about Doorposts' Service Opportunities Chart

[keithfamily5]

Have any of you used this? I'm trying to get more organized! Ha!Ha!

 

I can't figure out the best way to set this up. I have 3 children. Madison is 11, Bethany is 8, Bailey is 4. The booklet says to line the chores up along the left side and use the stickies to put their names next to the chores they are responsible for.

 

I'd love to set this up for a whole week, not just one day at a time.

 

I was thinking about writing the days of the week down the left side, drawing vertical lines and across the top (top line) write each child's name. Then, placing the chore pictures next to their name on each day.

 

This should be simple but is boggling my mind. Am I trying to make this too difficult? What are your thoughts?

 

Thanks,

Patty

[jennyt]

I guess it's more whether you really want them to do a different chore each day. With my dcs, our morning chores particularly are quite fixed - they change every now and then for some particular reason but not often - and it's the only way we seem to get anything done. They say repeated behaviours reduce stress, and I know that the kids get up and quietly go about the same routine as the day before and we all know what time we have to be finished each thing by and noone complains or argues - it just gets done.

 

Chores are great. ds2 empties the cutlery from the dishwasher back into the drawer every morning while ds4 empties the rest of the dishwasher, dd6 makes sandwiches and dd8 prepares breakfast. I finish my aerobics (it's my job between songs to wake them up at 5:50) and then sit down to breakfast. Dh supervises! He has to leave home at 7, when the rest of us go for a bike ride/prayer walk (me), so time is of the essence!

[keithfamily5]

I sat down last night and made a list of all the household chores that need to be done and which people can do each chore.

 

It turned into quite a long list! Now I need to pare it down a bit or combine some things.

 

I still can't decide how to set it up. For some reason, this is difficult for me! The whole reason I want to do this is so I'm not barking out orders all the time. That way they will know what they need to do and can be responsible for it on their own.

 

If anyone else has any advice~I'd love it!

 

Thanks,

Patty

[jennyt]

Hi again,

 

Have you looked at Managers of their Homes? I think that book really clarified "chores" for me. You have to be committed to explaining exactly what you want done and walking them through it at the start for awhile and then you will be able to just leave them to it. I think that's why you need to commit them to specific chores that repeat each day because that way, you train each child to do the chore the way you want them to. Then, when you need to swap chores for some reason, I've found my other dcs have learned from the dc who was doing it before so I have a lot less work now with each change. They do a lot of chores throughout the day and, every time we added a new chore to their list, it seemed like extra work for me at first, but now I can sit back and reap the benefits of a lot less jobs to do around the house. I hated help with dinner at first because it seemed more stressful with the kids around. Now it's wonderful to be able to get their help with the meal while I get the ironing done or something.

 

They are all still quite young but my ds4 can peel and chop veges, so I'm excited to think how much they'll be able to help as time goes on. But I think having started young, they don't question the fact that they need to contribute to the jobs that need doing, and that is a real bonus. I'd hate having to fight them over getting their chores done. Maybe that will come as they get older, but hopefully not.

 

Hope you get some more advice.

 

Jenny