Our New Chore Routine

A lot of people make comments when they hear that we have all boys like, "Oh that's too bad that you don't/won't have helpers for housework and in the kitchen."  WHAT?!  I know that I, and I assume a great amount of people hope and expect that men know how to and eagerly pitch in around the house.  I am very blessed that my husband is incredibly handy around the house and a fantastic cook (truly much better than I am).  I want and expect all of our children, no matter what the gender to help and contribute to our home.  

We have done chore charts in the past, and randomly asked children to help with different tasks, but I felt like we needed something new.  That's when I made this simple chore sticks that are color coordinated (I only had two red sticks so we have four orange to make up for it!). The sticks stay in a cup on the kitchen counter.  When the kids wake up and come downstairs our oldest three children (3 years, 5 years, 7 years old) all pick a stick of each color.  Whatever chores are listed on the sticks that they get are there chores for the day.  Once they complete their chore the stick goes back in the cup for the next day.  Super simple, and I have learned with time that sometimes the most simple things are what work the best.

Along with household chores we also made a category of what I would call "kindness".  I do not want them only to be kind as a "chore", but I do want them to really remember to do something intentional each day.  So the purple chore sticks say "Give someone a kiss", "Give someone a hug" and "Do something nice".

So far it has worked really wonderfully.  They each have "favorite chores" so it was a bit of a struggle in the beginning if someone else got that chore that they wanted.  They have learned though that we expect them all to learn all of the different chores.  

I have learned that I need to let them do it their own way and not follow after them to re-do or "improve" upon their task.  I have been very impressed how after doing each skill only a few times that they really do it quite well.

Helping chip ice and lay salt down after an ice storm

Watering the plants 

Cleaning the Kitchen Floor

We have been really having the kids help a lot more in the kitchen lately and not only has it been a lot of fun it is also very helpful.  Our oldest son (now 7 years old) learned how to independently make his own and his brother's breakfast before our 4th son was born in 2015.  Lately our 5 and 7 year old can even make scrambled eggs, sausage and toast pretty independently as well in the mornings (so they don't have to have cereal/bagels/yogurt/fruit every morning)!  They are now learning to help more in making lunches and dinners.

Also, please tell my that I'm not the only one who feels like there is a MOUNTAIN of laundry to do constantly.  I have what feels like a great laundry plan, yet the folding and putting away of laundry can still often be a daunting task!  My laundry schedule typically looks a bit like this:

Sundays - Off
Monday - One load of clothes, Bedsheets from Master
Tuesday - One load of clothes, Everyone's Bath Towels
Wednesday - One load of clothes, Catch up with Folding/Putting Away from Previous Days
Thursday - One load of clothes, Kids Bedsheets
Friday - One load of clothes
Saturday - One load of clothes, Extra Kitchen Towels/Cleaning Rags, etc

That's a minimum of 10 loads of laundry per week!

Well, I decided that I was no longer going to be the only one to chip in.  After only about 1-2 weeks of teaching our 3, 5, and 7 year olds can ALL start a load of laundry (laundry Pods make putting in the correct amount of detergent super easy), and also switch it to the dryer and start it!  YEAH!  One child is then assigned to helping me fold and one child helps to put kids clothes in their correct drawers.

So, that is what is working for our new chore routine for now.  The other great and simple thing is when we want to switch chores up, take some away, add some new ones I can easily do that!  What do you do to have your children help around the house?  Any fantastic tips?