Chore Update

After more or less giving the kids a pass on chores this fall, with them being back in school and all, a couple of days ago I finally snapped. Mealtime alone around here is enough to require a household staff (hmmm....there's an idea...), and I was worn out.

Rather than taking a couple of weeks to scrape together enough spare time (in between loading and unloading the dishwasher, you know) to make up a complex chore chart for us on Excel, which has often been my standard operating procedure in the past, this past weekend at dinner I just announced,

"Now you're all going to have mealtime jobs. Except for MPD. Here are the four jobs:
1. Clear all the dishes,
2. Put away leftover food,
3. Sweep under the table,
4. Wipe down the top of the table.
You will each have one of these jobs for a week. I will still be here, helping you and doing all the hard stuff, like deciding which container to put which leftovers in and loading the dishwasher. Each week, you'll switch jobs. These will be your chores following every mealtime. Starting now. Go."

It reminds them of the lunchroom jobs that the 4th and 5th graders have at their school, so they like it. Well, at least JPD does, because he feels like a big kid. And you know what? This little thing is making a HUGE difference around here. We're getting in a new year's groove!

(They don't know it, but my evil plan is to add back in pre-mealtime chores too, then Saturday morning chores. I'm heading for easy street around here!)