FSIS: Week 12, Family Chore System

We live in a small student apartment. I actually love small space living. For several reasons, it keeps us closer to one another, it forces us to have less stuff , you learn to make do with what you have and make the best of things, it’s cozier, it serves as a great training ground for managing a home, and it has forced us to get really creative in our space…which I like!

I know that I will always cherish our time in small spaces and I hope we never take what we have for granted, now or in the future.

That being said, we don’t have washer and dryer hook-ups, we don’t have a dishwasher, little piles of things that inevitably appear out of nowhere make every room feel like a disaster and there is nowhere to run to to escape! I think the worst is the smells that infuse our entire home instantly, dirty diaper in the living room? Wham, the smell knocks me out in the kitchen. Dirty towels, yuck! And not to mention the unavoidable trashcan situation in a small space…sorry, I’ll stop.

My point is this, we have to be on top of it all if we want to keep our home a pleasant and cheery place to live. It’s not our strong point, by any stretch. Actually, we were in need of an intervention.

Which leads me to chores. I feel like I am constantly in the process of figuring out a system that might work for our busy family and will accommodate a six-year-old and two-year-old. Usually, I come up with a plan, try to pump everyone up and implement it, get tired of nagging everyone, try to do it all myself, start feeling like I am taken for granted (my choice word would be ‘slave’) and then I just don’t clean for a week in protest! It’s a pretty gnarly cycle.

So over the last few months I have cautiously tried out several different ideas, evaluated what our issues are, what works and what doesn’t work…attempting to think outside the box of our usual tricks. With this new system I’ve tried to be more realistic, create a family culture of cleanliness and teamwork, take away some of the dread and add a little more fun.

It’s really surprised me that a lot of the things we struggle with are mostly in our minds. For example, the dishes are always such a dreaded task for me, but once I just started to consider it as a time to get my hands warm and chat with the girls…so much easier. I also am more motivated by the reward of enjoying a nice clean kitchen and sink in the morning during breakfast.

As far as a reward for the girls I recently had a brilliant idea. What is something really desirable that would really motivate the girls to get things done. The answer is simple. Tickets!!!

If you know Husband and I at all, you know that we have a half-crazed love for (think arcade) tickets, and we have passed that to our daughters. Sticker charts have never worked and I hate rewarding them with dessert. So off I went and bought me some tickets at Office Max and then came up with a prize chart for things they could cash their tickets in for…we’ve been having a lot of fun! And now when they earn a prize or a trip somewhere (things we would have done anyways) there is less entitlement and they have pride in working hard for something. It’s a win-win. (Our Prize Chart)

My Chore System Process:

What I did was write out every chore and task that I could think of. Then I separated them into categories: Daily, Weekly and Deep Cleaning Tasks.  My job is to take care of washing the dishes everyday and the rest of the daily sweep of chores are split up between the girls. My weekly tasks are set up mostly by rooms because I have a set of quick things I do in each room throughout the week. Raine (6-years-old) has one weekly chore to do each day (for variety) that compliments my tasks. Lime (2 1/2-years-old) has four daily tasks that she can actually do by herself. I also set it up that the girls have optional deep cleaning tasks each day that they can do for more tickets. These are usually tasks they are still learning how to do and provide a teaching opportunity.

Note: Husband is excluded from our chart because he is usually at school/work after dinner (*ahem* and he hates charts), but he has his own major tasks that help our household move along: 1. Managing the finances (I HATE IT), 2. Meal Planning 3. Weekly Grocery shopping 4. Cooking Dinner.

So far it has been going really well and I’m glad I finally put this all together. I like that the first couple things the girls do each night (setting, clearing and cleaning the table and drying the dishes) makes a huge difference. If they happen to not get to the rest of their chores done, it doesn’t break down the whole system making it impossible to complete chores the next day. Also, the girls feel like they are really contributing to our family (which is important to me), there is less whining with a reward that motivates them, and we actually have some fun working together each night because they can be self-directed while I work on my own responsibilities.

What do you think? Anyone have any extra chores tips for a family with little ones? I’d love to hear them!

Finish anything lately? Let me know and I’ll share your project next week!

Check out this FSIS Project by Aimee at Crafty Bug:

Homemade Sauerkraut