i've got some great kids. i don't brag on them enough, but i do. they're smart, absolutely hilarious, terribly creative goofballs. love them. what they aren't, however, is consistently helpful and responsible for themselves. turns out i've been an enabler all these years. what can i say? if i wanted it picked up, i did it myself. you get the picture.
so there we are the other night all snuggled up and reading mrs piggle-wiggle. if you don't remember, mrs. piggle-wiggle is the sweet little woman who is great with kids and helpful with parents. she concocts lots of wonderful cures for all sorts of childhood ailments. cures like "the won't-pick-up-toys cure," "the answer-backer cure," and "the fighter-quarrelers cure." during reading one of the kids stops me and says, "i think the author was writing about us!" hmmm. could have been.
unfortunately i don't have a mrs. piggle-wiggle living on my street. i must rely on my own devices and it was time to devise a plan. time to get these kids involved in household chores.
i wanted something very simple that the kids couldn't miss and that they could manipulate to show that they're completed a task. i whipped together a couple pieces of felt and voila! the chore chart was born. right now they only have a few simple tasks they are responsible for. i really didn't want to scare them off and wanted to set them up for success. we are going to build ourselves up to more responsibility.
it's hanging all alone on my newly decluttered refrigerator. eventually i'd like to attach values to the tasks but for now, it's something. lots better than nothing.
in addition to this chart, i am reading a couple great books: too much of a good thing- raising children of character in an indulgent age, and no- why kids-of all ages-need to hear it and ways parents can say it. i'll let you know how it's going.
amy
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