family chores

One of the best bits of parenting advice that I ever received came in a casual conversation in a group of moms.  One of them shared with us how she had divided chores between her children.  Each child had a different kitchen chore each day and a different room in the house to care for.  The chores were rotated through the family so that each had a turn at each chore.

I loved this idea because:

It is the simple, easy and worked well.

It keeps the chores fair and no one can say "I have to do that all the time".

Everyone who eats, gets a chance to cook and clean-up.

Everyone who lives in the house, has a part of it to clean up.

To give you some ideas on how it may work, here is how it works at our house.

Each of our five children's names are on a chart.  For every day of the week they each have a different kitchen job and for the week there is a room in the house that is their responsibility to pick-up/clean.

Our kitchen jobs are:

Chef-  Decides the dinner menu from the weekly menu list,assists in preparing dinner and sets the

table.

Clear Table:  Clears the table, puts away all leftover food, and wipes off the table.

Dishes:  Loads the dishwasher, washes any extra dishes, and wipes counters.

Dishwasher:  Puts away all clean dishes from the dishwasher or drying rack.

Sweep:  Sweeps the floor and takes out the garbage.

This has been a great way to spend one on one time with the kids.  One of the best times of the day is making dinner with the child who has chef and chatting about their day.  They are learning reading and math as we follow recipes and on busy night our teenagers can make a great dinner on their own, because they have been learning this way for so long.

Our weekly jobs are:

Living Room- Family Room- Kitchen- Bathroom- Playroom  --Pick up each day and clean on cleaning day.

The kids each have their favorites and least favorites but it helps them to understand that it all needs to be done.  When company calls and a quick clean-up is in order, everyone knows what they job is.  And after being responsible for picking up a highly used room for a week,  they are more careful about leaving their own stuff around.

This has been a great system at house for many years.  I love when I need something done, I know who to ask and that it creates of feeling fairness and teamwork.  Hopefully if you are reading this, looking for some inspiration for your family,  this have given you some ideas.

The chart above is protected by a copyright and is not to be copied for commercial use.