Thursday, March 12, 2009

Free Labor

In our house our girls are expected to do the following things:

1) Set their place at the table- get their own plates, cups, bowls for snacks, meals, drinks
2) Put their dishes in the sink after dinner (we help Molly with hers to reduce mess)
3) Let Max out and in when asked
4) when they walk in the door put their coat and shoes in the foyer (slowly moving to actually putting them IN the shoe holder, but one step at a time)
5) Putting their dirty clothes in a hamper
6) Helping clean their rooms and their toys

There are extra things that they are asked to do that results in a reward (we try to make sure the reward is not used to get them to do it, but offered when they do as asked without fighting it or telling their sister to do it).

Do you have tips and tricks for developing good habits in your household?
Do you have other chores you have your kids do?
How do you reward?

3 comments:

Jessica said...

We have a list that's pretty similar to yours, although the table-setting comes and goes. Cooking dinner is kind of therapeutic for me, so I try to keep everyone out of the kitchen while I do it :-) But clean up, coats, clothes, etc. is about the same. Evan also helps put away laundry.

We haven't gotten to the reward part yet, although I struggle with when/how to start an allowance system. Evan is starting to get to the point where he wants things, and it seems like now would be a good time to start. I'll add it to my to-do list :-)

InTheFastLane said...

There are thing the kids are expected to do just because they are a part of the family. And then they are extras that we reward for (the older kids get an allowance, Jack Jack is happy to work for M&Ms).

Mommy said...

Our list is similar....and Tommy is experiencing the TERRIBLE THREEs. So - things don't always go the way we want....GRRRRR.
But I do reward with treats - one twizzler for example. And we try to explain things in advance (For example - after dinner, you'll take a tubby and THEN you can have one cookie and milk with Daddy before bed!)We're getting there....