How I Tricked My Kids Into Doing Chores

I truly believe that parents have an obligation to teach children to care for the home and for their families.

In that spirit, each day after school, my kids do about fifteen minutes of daily chores. Those chores are required and non-negotiable. The kids "earn" one hour of play time on electronics (e-credit) for doing those chores without grumbling or complaint and in a timely manner. 

But make no mistake. They must do the chores before they can do anything else. But they get e-credit if they do them to specifications and cheerfully.

Also, if we are having company or their rooms get out of control, they might be assigned a weekend chore to clean rooms or the guest bathroom.

For a long time, that was all that we expected of them. But they keep begging for more e-credit.

So I made a list (pictured above). If I hated doing it (like cleaning the microwave) or if it was an every-now-and-then chore (like matching the unmatched Tupperware), it went on the list.

(Yes, I misspelled it as "Tubberware." Consider that proof that my list is authentic!)

For each task, the boys earn one hour of e-credit.

Now they beg (especially on weekends and during school holidays) for extra chores to do. They do them cheerfully. No money is involved, electronics are still limited, and everyone is happy!

They can also purge one toy for ten minutes of e-credit. Twelve toys have gone to Goodwill this week alone.

How do you get your kids to do chores?

Etcetera.

Partied with: Home Matters