Chore Assignments

As promised in my previous post where I described our chore system, here are my and the boys' chore assignments. Now, writing this all out might make it look like a lot of stuff... and there is a lot. But we do have a large household, and Michael and I believe its important for every member to be contributing as soon as they can begin learning how to.

We've noticed with our boys that this has brought about several things. First, they're more appreciative of the house and the work that has to be done in it, since they are involved directly. Second, chores give them a sense of accomplishment and contribution, which is important for children to develop - they need to know that they are useful and can do work that is effective and helpful to others. It also teaches them that the world doesn't revolve around them, and that serving others is a blessing to those they are serving and to they themselves.

We feel its important for the boys to learn to rise up to meet the challenges of day to day work, as, eventually, they will be providing for a wife and family of their own, we pray. We don't want them to think of work as drudgery or something to avoid, but to understand that it is a necessity to life, and a big aspect in maturing into a man.

So here's their chore lists, broken down for simplicity, hopefully ;-)

Isaac (age 8.5):
Daily Chores:

Before Breakfast:

• Make Bed
• Brush Teeth
• Pray/Devotion
• Pick up personal belongings in room

After Breakfast:

• Clean Toilet area of bathroom (wipe seat and under seat with bleach wipe, scrub inside of toilet with brush)
• Dogs Out
• Empty glass dishes from dishwasher

Afternoon:

• Zone (his zone is the kitchen, so he sweeps, wipes table, and washes pots and pans)
• Fold and put away laundry, if needed
  
• Brush Molly (the hairy Lab)
• Vacuum Judah's room

Before Bed:

• Wash pots and pans from dinner
• Teeth
• PJs on

Weekly:

• Match mismatched socks
• Clean Trash out of Car
• Sweep Deck
• Straighten Bookshelves
• Take Sheets off Bed, Replace with clean ones
• Vacuum Stairs to Basement
• Clean Basement
• Sweep Garage
• Wipe Kitchen Floor

Ezra (age 7):
Daily:

Before Breakfast:

• Brush Teeth
• Make Bed
• Pray/Devotions
• Pick up personal belongings in room
• Serve Emergen-C to everyone
  

After Breakfast:

• Load dishwasher
• Start laundry if needed
• Trash out if needed
• Sink area of bathroom (wipe sinks and counters, change hand towel, shake out rug)

Afternoon:

• Zone (his zone is the front of the house - entryway, living room, office - he has to pick up items from those rooms and sweep the entryway)
• Clean and vacuum room
• Fold and put away laundry if needed
  
• Load Dishwasher
• Trash out if needed
  

After Dinner:

• Load Dinner dishes into dishwasher
• PJs
• Teeth

Weekly:

• Sweep front porch and sidewalk
• Pick up front yard
• Take trash can and recycle bin to curb on trash day
• Bring trash can and recycle bin back to house after trash day
• Pick up back yard
• Take sheets off bed and replace with clean ones
• Clean "stuff" out of car (non trash items that belong in house)
• Clean basement
• Wipe Kitchen Floor

Joel (age 4.5):

Before Breakfast:

• Teeth
• Make bed
• Pick up personal belongings in room
• Pray
• Feed Dogs and give water

After breakfast:

• Unload silverware from dishwasher
• Bring dirty laundry to laundry room
• Replace trash bag if needed
  

Afternoon:

• Zone (his zone is the family room, so he tidies this)
• Fold and put laundry away if needed
  
• Empty trash cans around the house into kitchen trash
• Replace trash bag if needed
  

After Dinner:

• Teeth
• PJs on

Joel doesn't have many weekly chores, yet, but he does help clean the basement and wipe the kitchen floor. He also helps with anything I ask him to :-)

Nathan (age 2.5) doesn't have a "chore list" yet. Every morning he is responsible for unloading the plastic dishes from the dishwasher. The rest of the day, he helps me in anything I'm doing that I can modify for his level. They all start out as "mommy's apprentice" until I can see that they're ready to do more things independently.

Oh, and before anyone thinks I sit around eating Bon-Bons while my children slave away, here's my chore list:

Before breakfast:

• Exercise
• Shower
• Quiet time with Lord
• Prepare breakfast

After breakfast:

• Help Nathan get dressed and change his diaper (or, since last week, help him sit on the potty!)
• Start my laundry, if the boys don't have laundry to do that day
• Check chores

Afternoon:

• Motivated Moms list
• Sweep the house (we have hardwood everywhere except the stairs, basement, and bedrooms)
• Vacuum either the living room rug, master bedroom, or basement (they rotate, and yes, I have a list of which day I do what, naturally! :-P Or else I'd forget entirely!)
• Fold and put away my laundry if needed
• Check chores

Before bed:

• Check that the dishwasher is loaded well and start it
• Wipe down the kitchen counters and sink
• Make Michael's lunch for the next day
• Get my exercise clothes ready for the morning
• Do a brief bit of Bible study

One thing I want to incorporate into the older boy's list is learning how to plan a meal to cook, make the grocery list for that meal, and then prepare it. I figure if I can do that with each boy as they get older, by the time Judah is 10, I'll only have 2 meals a week to plan and prepare, lol! They love helping with the cooking whenever they can.

So, there's a run down of our day! The before breakfast, after breakfast, and after dinner chores take about 15 minutes or less each. The biggest chunk of chores is in the afternoon, which take an hour or so for me and the two oldest boys. We try to always keep this in mind as we go about our daily work:

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Colossians 3:23