Children and Chores

"I'm a pusher. I push people. I pushed my husband into law school. That was a bust. I pushed myself into working three jobs. And now I'm gonna push you."

10-minute clean-up!

I am of the mind that from a very early age, children should be involved in helping out around the house. If you Google "kid chores," you'll no doubt find thousands of lists and chart templates, detailing every conceivable age-appropriate chore for each phase of childhood. When it comes down to it, though, you have to dole out responsibilities based on your unique family life and your children's' unique personalities and temperaments.

Bear has had assigned chores for a long time, though our consistency in making her stick to them has been spotty at times. That's just sort of the way it goes, though. The moment we develop a working routine, something in life changes and it's time to figure it all out again.

We've just re-evaluated Bear's responsibilities this past week. Some of her chores remained the same, while others were swapped out. Bear earns $3 per week if all of her chores are done, and she's docked a quarter for any chore not completed. I know there are differing opinions on whether or not children should be paid for chores, but we feel that it's a good situation for Bear and we're comfortable with it.

Here is Bear's weekly chore chart:

Ella is our dog. Click to enlarge. The image; not the dog.

We used to have a much cuter chart, with stickers and her favorite cartoon characters, but in the name of being more frugal we've simplified the chart at this point. I intend to make a nice, permanent chart with chalkboard paint at some point, but that's not a priority right now with all the other things I have on my plate. I also intent to add "mix mommy a cocktail".

How do you keep your kids on track with their chores? Did you earn an allowance when you were a kid?