HOW WE ENCOURAGE OUR KIDS TO HELP AROUND THE HOME
Updated: May 6, 2021
Do your kids resist doing chores and spend all their time on their devices?
My teens and pre-teens want to spend all their time on devices. When I would ask them to do chores, I would get attitude. Or at least from my biological babies.
Side note: I prefer to call Mike's daughter's bonus babies or bonus
children, rather than stepchildren. In turn, I end up calling mine my biological babies.
As for my bonus children, it's always been harder for me to ask them to help out around the house. I've never wanted them to see me as the evil stepmother who treats them like Cinderella. But with so many people coming and going, I need everyone to help out.
So what was the plan?
To begin, I had to make a chore board. I brainstormed about how this would work and I came up with the following.
Each chore is written on one of the hanging circular tabs. When kids come back from their other parents' homes, the tabs get moved around. If only 2 of the 4 kids are going to be with us, they take all the jobs. Otherwise, the chores get divided evenly. We make the kids do this so it's not something we need to worry about.
All chores have a specific amount of time our girls can earn on the device chart. When done, they bank the time by writing it on the chart. There is a portion missing in the photo below. This is where the kids' names are written and they keep track of their banked time.
When we came up with this idea we had the kids take part. We asked them how much time each chore was worth. The kids don't like to unload the dishwasher so that chore is worth 15 minutes. Pairing up clean socks is everyone's least favorite chore, so that job is worth 30 minutes of device time.
As a way to encourage movement, just being outdoors can earn the girls device time. Fresh air is vital for good mental health. We have a couple of teenagers who would spend all their time in their rooms if we let them. This at least gets them out, socializing with the rest of us.
I'm not going to suggest this works all the time or that we don't get resistance from the kids. But when we have strayed away from using this method, we come back to it because it works for us. In truth, it's when Mike and I get lazy with monitoring the device time that we stray away. If we as the parents stay committed to what we set in motion, the kids will follow.
If you've got a great way to get kids to do chores or limit their device time, please share!!!
Shannon, The Herdmother
Love this! Bonus children is so sweet and way more fitting ❤️ thank you for sharing your wisdom