Chore charts!

I was browsing around blogland one day and came across a blog called Moss Moments. When I saw this idea, I knew I had to steal it. She had some fantastic things on there that I just fell in love with. It's been really amazing!!!! It's really simplified my life, and the kids have responded very well to it.

For those of you who aren't going to click over to that blog, let me explain the idea. ;-) You print off a chore chart and then put it into a picture frame. I got 11x14 frames and matted them to an 8x10 size. Then you use whiteboard markers to cross off the chores as you complete them each day. At the end of the day, you just wipe it clean and start all over the next day!

I took her idea to the next level, though. I have my own chore list typed up on the computer as well. It helps me stay organized and ensures that I get all the deep cleaning done that I feel needs to be done each week. I decided to use the same idea for the kids' chart on my own. Then I hung them up right next to each other.

Like I said, there were several things on her chore chart that I thought were genius. The main one is the "Ask Mom" chore. Completely fabulous! I just take a job from my own chore chart that is age appropriate and write that down under the child's name next to the "Ask Mom" spot.

The other ones that I really love are: read, create, practice, play. My kids usually always do these things anyway, but it really helps me to make sure they have a well-rounded day. For practice, that other blog author said she has her kids pick something they want to learn about. Kyrie has been really interested in learning how to play my flute. I've been working with her for a few weeks now, so she decided yesterday that she'd practice playing the flute for her practice time. For create, that can be anything like play-doh, making cookies, painting, etc. Play is a big one that I'm grateful for. It's so hot here that sometimes all the kids want to do is hang out under our big ceiling fan in the family room and play the Wii or watch a show. Having play on their chart helps me motivate them to actually play -- legos, cars, Barbies, Polly Pockets, whatever. The only rule is that there's no screen involved.

Speaking of rules, I made it very clear to my kids that ONLY Mom is allowed to mark off the jobs. There are several reasons for this, the main one being that they were trying to be sneaky and cross off jobs they hadn't completed yet. ;-)

Here's how they look hanging on the wall. At the top of the kids' chart, I write the day of the week. And you can see where I wrote in their "Ask Mom" chores for today. Kyrie's was to deep clean their bathroom, Asher's was to vacuum his bedroom, and Bri's was to help feed and water the cats.



And here's a close-up of the actual chore charts. Hopefully they're not too hard to read. I tried to size them as big as I could. This one is mine. I have blank spots down at the bottom right corner for miscellaneous things that don't go on my usual list. The one thing on there this week (and I only put one because it's a HUGE job) is to organize the craft cupboards.

And here's a close-up of the kids' chart. The quote on the bottom right hand side I stole from that other blog, too. I tried to find one of my own, but I couldn't find anything nearly as perfect as what she had on hers!

If you try it, let me know how much you love it! I can't say enough good things about it!!!