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Homeschooling in Illinois
Apr. 29, 2008
Chores
My two older boys each have their own chore chart. They have for years. They are required to get up, do their chores, eat breakfast, and then do school. These have been the rules for years. You would think they had it down pat. Nope. Not. at. all. I know all about the whole tomato staking idea, and I knew that I should some how be doing it. I just couldn't figure out how. There are four of them, and they always seem to be going in a different direction. How can I possibly follow around the two oldest, who have chores in different parts of the house and outside, while still watching the two youngest who destroy things as they walk? I knew that I couldn't take them with me. That would cause much more mess. I knew I couldn't leave them alone, because that would defeat the whole tomato staking idea. Yesterday, I was in the bedroom with the three youngest helping them clean. D was doing school. He needed help, so he came to me, I helped him, and when I looked up, the other children were gone! Just like that. Without me noticing. Now I know why things don't work. I'm scatterbrained, and they are smart. They know when to take off. I have been stressing for quite some time on how to make life work. This morning, I finally figured something out. Since I have to make sure the older two are doing their chores - correctly - and not lying about doing them, and not playing while they are supposed to be doing them, I will be sending them off, one at a time, one chore at a time. I rounded up all the kids to the front room. I gave the two little ones something to play with. I grabbed the chore charts and went down the list. First, N, go brush your teeth. D, you sit on the couch. Ok, N's back, N sit on the couch, D go sweep. D's back, N go do..... And so on. Of course, this took all morning and I didn't get to eat breakfast until 11, then I had to put dinner in the crock pot and make them lunch. And now I have to do school with them. These are going to be long, tiring days. I hope that this will teach them to stay focused. But, I'm not counting on it. I hope that I'll eventually be able to send them off together, or give them their charts back so they can be responsible for them, but I doubt it. Right now, I see me doing this, well, until they move out. Then their wives can take over. And they can blame me for not teaching them responsibility. But then they will have boys and they will apologize to me. 
And, for the record, the two youngest have chores as well. I told Princess C to take her dolls off of her bed so she could make it. I thought I could run to the bathroom while she did that. Nope. Wrong. When I got back (30 seconds later) she not only had her dolls off, she also had her sheet and blankets off. So, moral of the story, in order to be a good mom, you need to be hooked up to an IV and catheter. 
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Comments
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May. 24, 2008 - Untitled Comment
What is it that we do that is wrong? I watched Little House on the Prairie. Those girls did their chores with very little reminding and they were much bigger chores....why is it so hard for us to get our kids to do their chores? (I suffer from the same problem).
Melissa
www.melissaomarkham.com