Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Chore Charts

{CHORES}
(BLAH!)


I would LOVE to say that I made a New Year's Resolution this year and that I was keeping it!!  However, this year got away from me before I could even make a resolution.  (Fire's have a way of doing that to ya!)  So, if I HAD actually made a resolution, it would have been about getting my house under control.  Six rambunctious kids, and a mom who crafts & builds WAY better than she cleans does NOT make for a clean, orderly house!  {shocking, I know!}

So as of July 13th, 2012...

I HAVE MADE A RESOLUTION

This is the mission:
Clean house
Clean yard
Dinners at the table
LESS fighting {children}
LESS yelling {me}

A HaPpY Home!!

Over the past couple days, I have researched, googled, pinterest~ed {is that a word!?}, and stalked blogs.  This is what I have come up with:


I'll break it down for you.

First of all, this coolio shelf I found at a garage sale about a year ago, and it has been hiding somewhere in a back room.  It had been painted a couple of times, and it's most recent paint job was a pretty loud rendition of turquoise and lime green!  {WOWZA}  It was also missing a piece of molding.  So I whipped out my trusty tools, replaced the molding, painted it a gorgeous "Sweet Basil" for the exterior, and lovely "Underwater Green" for the beadboard.  I then proceeded to distress!!  To which my horrified daughter kept telling me I was destroying it!  Haha!  I finished it off with a rubbed on coat of walnut gel stain...{my FAV}.............

VOILA!!!




I LOVE these adorable chore charts!!!  I found them on SewCraftCreate.com.  You can print them off for FREE here.  Aren't they adorable!!??? 

A few months ago I snagged a laminator at the Wally store on clearance, and I LOVE it!!  I laminated all of the charts.  I am using dry erase markers to write their daily chores for the week.  Then I can wipe it off, and start fresh the next week.  {SCORE!}  No more printing charts off every week!  Plus, I can personalize them for each child, each week, and season.


The kids will be rewarded for doing chores with "parent bucks".  I've heard them called Mom Bucks, Kids bucks, Chore bucks....  Whatever!!  I printed these off here at Parents.com for FREE.  They come in $1, $5, $10, and $20.  The kids and I sat down and made a list of all of the chores, (inside and out), a list of rewards, ~and~ consequences for bad behavior.  Then we assigned a $ amount to each.  They will have daily chores that have to be done each day.  They earn 1 free hour of TV for doing their daily chores.  And anything above and beyond has to be paid for with "parent bucks". 


In addition to their daily chores, they will be in charge of a couple other chores for the week.  We decide which chores they get by the roll of the dice!


Aren't these fun!?  I saw a couple ideas for these on pinterest, but wasn't sold on any one in particular.  So this is what I came up with.  One block has rooms, one has specific chores like sweeping, dusting, dishes, garbage, etc.  I am going to make two more as well.  One with their names to help solve arguments, and one with odd jobs like, puppy duty, baby brother's helper, watering plants, bike duty (keeping bikes in the garage), etc.  I will also use these when they are fighting.  They will roll the dice, and do a chore!


Using cute scrapbook paper, ribbon & some wire, I made these fun banks for them to keep their bucks in.  (We'll see how long they last!)


ALSO...

I know that there will be a bit of a learning curve, and a BIG problem we have at our house is kids getting things out & not putting them away!  So here's another idea I found on pinterest.
[Love Pinterest!!}


This is a rubbermaid tub that will lock up all those loose toys, books, and shoes and hold them ransom!  I am going to use these adorable chore sticks in a jar.  They pick one out & do the chore in order to get their item back.


Well, there you have it! I'm sure there will be a bit of a learning curve before we all figure out what works best, but the kids and I are pretty excited about our new "system".

 Instant organization, and a CLEAN house!  {HA.HA.HA.}  Well, here's hopin' anyway!

Good luck with your chore charts, and I hope this helped you all find some fun ideas to help your kids get into the cleaning groove!