Yeah, it's come to this, the chore jar. I don't like starting these organizational tools because I invariably stop them for some reason and then feel guilty that I stopped. However after 4 days this appears to be working for everyone who is old enough to get the concept. My nearly 2 year old prefers to shake the jar and try to hurl it as far as she can across the kitchen table. No harm no foul, it's plastic.
The kids pick their own slip of paper with a chore on it and then do said chore. My 5 and 7 year olds still need quite a bit of guidance but my older two are eating this up b/c they choose what they do and don't feel like I'm unfairly dishing out chores. The good thing I added is an oh so brief sit down with the white board to show the kids what the day holds activity wise so we can decide on a time to pick the chores and do them. Depending on the day and how busy it is , we might just pick one or if we have time we can pick more. And as I 'm checking out the progress I can mentally note what else needs to be broken down into paper slips and added to the jar.
One big exception is the kitchen. Clearing and washing dishes is the kids responsibilty on the nights that we are not rushing off to the baseball field or elsewhere.
The system will need to be tweaked but it is up and running. The miracle of miracles, our house is becoming cleaner this summer with not so much grumbling . I've heard it takes 3 weeks to create a habit, check with me in 3 to see if this is still going.
