Chores and amazing kids

Towards the end of the school year the kids begged me to change their daily chores. They were tired of them and at the very least wanted to trade.  I'd made a summer calendar with the idea that I'd be more intentional about what we did instead of coasting through like usual. In the words of Dominic this was Caitlin's first "real summer break". So I wanted to do some new things. We put in movie and pool days. But I also added some cooking classes, required book reviews, and new words (both English and ASL) to learn each week.

And on the very first day of our summer break (the week after camp meeting), I changed their chore charts. I sort of expected to hear some complaints. I'd added two extra chores to each one and the new ones were more difficult. So far I have woken up each day to find them either finished or almost finished with all of their chores. They are waking up at 6am to get them done so that we can have the whole day to read, play, cook, and have fun. 

And they are enjoying them. Caitlin had a moment of difficulty when she had to figure out how to clean the tub. She couldn't get the cleaner to spray out (her hands aren't strong enough) and she couldn't reach the other side of the tub. But the kids worked together. Dominic sprayed the cleaner for her and she just climbed in and got to work. When she finished, the tub shone.

I'm continually amazed and thankful for these tremendously awesome kids that God has blessed me with.

Oops!

Jon and I have always worked towards independence in our children. If they are mentally and physically capable of doing something themselves, let them go for it. We'll be right there beside them, but they can do it themselves. 

We are also of the philosophy that work is good for a body. And since our children are a part of our family, they can contribute to the family by helping out.

Normally this isn't a problem. The kids wake up in the morning and do a small list of chores. Any not completed that morning are finished when they return from school, gymnastics, etc. Works pretty well for us. Since they both love learning new things and doing something that is "above their age limit" they have accomplished some pretty cool things. This also means that our household runs pretty smoothly and typically stays pretty clean.

Tonight I ran into a snag. I went to the school to help out the teachers set up the books for a book fair that starts next week. Dominic went with me and helped too. He was in ecstasy seeing all of those books. So he asked my budget for books next week. It wasn't enough to get him everything he wanted and even adding his stash of cash to the mix didn't cut it. So he asked if he could do some additional chores to make more money. Now the problem begins. I have no idea what to give him. I've googled chores and they are either already doing them, or have recently helped me do them. We don't have any extra things that need to be done.

We just washed and cleaned the car. Their closets are organized (last month). The house is clean and is being maintained by regular chores. The kids already help with laundry, dishes, and meal prep. Yard work is non-existent in this lovely single digit weather. We just washed windows and dusted all of the base boards. Caitlin just helped me mop yesterday.

I could just give him the money, but I appreciate his desire to work for something he wants. I'm just not sure what to give him. I went through all of the chores on those charts up to the teenage years. I'm either putting too much on my kids or people seriously don't expect much for their children.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Because my ocd has created a problem. =)

Why buy toys?

It's on days like this that I wonder why parents bother buying toys.

Jon brings home scrap paper for the kids to use. They draw, paint and color EVERY day so we were really running through the paper. They don't seem to mind the print on one side and it saves us tons of printer paper.

But on this day they found another use for it.

Dominic said he was going to make a snow village. They played for hours in their "snow village" before putting the paper back. 

 We change the sheets every Friday morning. Each kid helps me with their bed and then they both help with mine. But when we got to Dominic's bed, Caitlin found a pillow case and crawled in.

This created several hours of sack races and camping trips with their "sleeping bags".

 

 

 

Dominic LOVES helping me with my chores. He has a container filled with ping pong balls that have chores written on them. He will pull one out and race me to get it finished. But I think his very favorite is washing dishes. I'm wondering how long this will last. =)