Chores...

At 9 and 12 (soon to be 10 and 13), Buttercup and Valiant are certainly capable of doing basic chores around the house on a regular basis. I am a firm believer that they should take care of their personal spaces, contribute to the care of communal spaces, and help care for the furry, feathered, and scaled animals they so love. For the most part, they do a terrific job, but...I was getting really tired of hearing, "But you didn't tell me I had to do that today!" for chores they darned well knew were daily chores...things like putting their clean clothes away, feeding the animals, etc.

Last summer I came up with our chore lists that had chores they were responsible for on a daily basis and a weekly basis (hamster cage cleaning, lawn mowing, taking the cans out for the trash truck and BRINGING the cans back in). No longer could they say they didn't KNOW they were supposed to do x or y. I made them a bit more fun by adding clip art to the chores. After two weeks I decided they were working, so I printed out fresh copies and had them laminated...my plan was to use dry-erase markers, but they wouldn't erase! We use highlighters or water-based markers instead. The only problem? The kids kept losing their list and then, again, the dreaded, "I didn't know I was supposed to do that TODAY," came back.

My dear friend A has let me borrow her eyelet/rivet thing so I can make LollyChops awesome calendars and I was struck with inspiration. So, I punched holes, set eyelets, tied some ribbon, and now they can be hung in the same place every night...cheerfully ready for the next day! So, the kids might not thank A, but I sure do!