I haven't ever had a chore chart, set job assignments, or anything like that for the kids. I've read too many philosophical books about intrinsic desire and drive. I don't want to kill their "drive" by bribing them to do chores and then having kids that don't understand the *intrinsic* joy of contributing and helping out. I also don't want them arguing "I'm not doing that, it's not MY job!". I want helpful children that I can ask to do something and they'll jump up and do it just because I asked. That has been my general "philosophy" on the topic of helping out around the house. And it works OKAY... but... it's a lot of work to always be asking those kids to do things!
Maybe it would be good if they just knew to do it, and did it. Self-initiated and all that! Maybe a bit of a lofty goal for the 6 and under crowd, but there it is.
So I revisited chores and charts. I read a good book called "Raising Independent Kids". And I had a inspiring thought! Well, maybe not that inspiring. But it was to me! Although I love the idea of never squelching the internal drive to work and achieve and please, through the use of carrots and sticks, it's just not realistic. And I don't believe that all household chores make me HAPPY to do! I feel good when they're done, yes, but: there is nothing wrong with work, and kids knowing work is work.
That's my new theory. Maybe brought on by seeing those able bodied youngsters with so much energy (and so much mess making ability) running around with too much free time?!
So I decided to make a chore chart. Or a job wheel, as we're calling it. Jobs sounds better than chores, right?
Bentley loves it. He says "can we have MORE jobs to do?! I can help come up with a list!". He was the first one downstairs a few weeks back when I put it up and he studied it with excitement. He then explained how it would all work to Jake and Viva. They have a morning assignment, an afternoon assignment, and an evening assignment. They have the same assignments for a week then we rotate.
Bentley does his jobs without being asked, and often goes above and beyond. The other day he was vacuuming the kitchen after lunch (I really really like clean wood floors, so they clean the floor twice a day... !). He asked me if there was another outlet nearby because he noticed the front foyer looked like it could use some work. I told him not to worry about it, as he'd already done a great job with the kitchen and that was his job! He told ME that it needed to be done, so he was going to do it.
I love it!
Viva... well, Viva was picking up Lincoln's toys the other evening in the family room. She asked me when was she was going to be done doing it. I reminded her that we have assignments set for a week at a time, and then she'll get a new set of assignments. She said: "No! I don't mean that. I mean when will we be DONE with this job thing?". Poor kid. Guess she doesn't get it yet. To be fair, she does do a great job with her jobs. She is very detail oriented and out of all three she does the most thorough work.
Jake... he does his jobs quickly, when asked. He was a bit stressed the first week because he didn't think he knew HOW to do the jobs, but Bentley was a great big brother and walked him through it. So now he's all good.
And me? I'm liking this. A few less things for me to do, even if I do spend 3 minutes a day reminding them it's time for them to put their grunt labor into the smooth running of the household...!
On with more jobs!
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