Personal Responsibility, You are a Friend of Mine

Melanie's Weekly Chores

We instituted a new chore chart in our house yesterday, and it's working like a charm.  True it's only been in effect one day, but Lord what a difference it made this morning.  

As you know, getting the girls out the door for school without screaming and/or spankings rarely happens.  This morning, however, was a pleasure.  We used to use a chore chart on a white board that was attached to the refrigerator.  It worked well.  But for whatever reason, we stopped keeping track. My friend, Karen, gave me this. They attach this sheet to a clip board.  We brainstormed about chores that should be included.  The inspectors (Chad and I) add a sticker to the bottom for each day of completed tasks.  The reward is $5 at the end of week.

Melanie carried around her clipboard this morning making check marks along the way.  It was actually pretty funny.  The best part?  No yelling, no asking multiple times for them to get dressed, no spankings, a.k.a. NO STRESS!  Melanie even brushed her own teeth.  Note:  She's quite capable of doing this on her own, but I'm a little excessive compulsive when it comes to teeth brushing, so I had to do a follow-up myself....I know, I know!

Right now, this is novel.  We'll check back in 2 weeks' time to see if it's still working.