Sunday, October 10, 2010


Well, I finally did it.... I actually got a 'chore' system that seems to be working for both of my very different children!!! Thank you Family Fun magazine for the article 'Don't Lose Your Marbles' back in the June/July 2010 issue, which I tore out and have been saving since I read it. When I saw this in practice in a couple of my friends homes, I was motivated (or should I say desperate?) to give it a try. We definitely needed something in place to help me be consistent with getting the kids to learn about responsiblities and doing their part to contribute to the household operations.

On Thursday, Emmy helped me decorate the vases (which I found at Walmart for $1 each!) for each kid, and when Zeke got home from school, we all worked together to come up with the name, the 'rules,' and most importantly, the rewards.

The 'system': They get jewels (which are little decor rocks that I also found at Walmart for $3 a bag) from me, the keeper of the jewels, for completing their tasks throughout the day. They get 2 jewels if they do it on their own without prompting, one if they are asked to do it and complete it w/out complaining or delaying, and if they disobey or otherwise, they have to give a jewel back. They can also earn extra here and there if the keeper of the jewels catches them being extra helpful, or having extra good attitudes, lovingly helping a sibling, etc. Zeke has to fill his jar up to the tip top, Emmy has to fill to the ribbon line and Ethan to the top of his name (figured he needed a goal to give the 'fairness' thing to the other kiddos). Once they reach these markers, they get to pick one of the 'rewards'--and they are sooooooo excited about this!

So, we are only on day 4 of this new adventure... they both have earned about 40 jewels so far and are constantly on the look out for how to earn more--Ethan has 8 =) and could truly care less--he'd rather chew on the jewels! They've been spending hours just like in the picture above, counting and sorting their colorful jewels and dreaming of the reward they get. Hopefully it will continue to be effective even as the excitement wears off. I guess it's only as effective as I make it, so... here's to consistency!!!
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