Chore Rotations : The Secret Ingredient

I hear it a lot: "I really need to get better about having the kids do chores." 

And you know what? I totally understand, because I used to be in the same struggle.  I knew I should be training the kids to value hard work and to be part of a family, but I couldn't quite make it practical.

Read on to find out the one utterly simple concept that makes Kid Chores work for me...

(insert imaginary drumroll and fanfare here)...

Long-Term Chores!

Simply put, Long-Term Chores are assigning your children a job to do for a loooonnggg time.  Like all spring. 

(I first came across the idea of long-term chores in a book called Large Family Logistics, by Kim Brenneman.  It's out of print now, and insanely expensive, but you can take a peek if you like.)

Right now you are probably asking:
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What? You Want Me to Ask My Kid to Do a Chore For Months?
Isn't That Too Much? WHY Would Any Mama Do That?

Let's face it: Teaching a kid to do a chore is time consuming.  Teaching multiple children to do several chores is even more so. That is a fact.

If you print out a handy schedule of chores that change weekly (or even daily), Mama has to teach all of those chores.  And then the week ends and she gets to teach them to someone new again.

By the time the Short-Term chore rotation starts again, no one has had time to master any skills.  Mama has to start everyone's training all over again! Bleck!

I believe this is why so many moms throw in the towel. We know kids need to learn home-life skills. We know they need to learn the value of hard work.  But our effort to make things "fair" and to not ask too much of our children creates a system that does not work! No wonder we feel that it is easier to just do it ourselves!

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The Solution: Long-Term Chores

What does a Mama dream of? 

• Children who help.
• Children who know how to help.

For that to happen, children need two things: Training & Time.  If you provide encouraging training for a job, explain your expectations, and then allow the child enough time to master the skill, you are going to be one happy mama.
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Ready to give it a try?
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Get Started with Long-Term Chores:

1. Make a list of the chores you want your children to learn to do.
2. Mix and match the list, based on age and ability. For example, my oldest son dries the dishes and puts them away, simply because he is the tallest and can reach where everything goes.
3. Realize that the list is not going to be perfectly "fair." (You can always remind your bigger children that you are going to expect more of each of them as they mature).
4. Provide Training for each Chore.
5. Test Drive your assignments (see below).
6. Make any re-arrangements necessary.  
7. Periodically inspect your children's work. 
8. Wonder why no one told you about Long-Term Chores sooner.
   

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Test Drive Your Long-Term Chore List:

Work with each child on each chore, to show them what you expect. Then give the rotation a week or two to see how things are going.

Sometimes it all fits. But sometimes I find that I have tried to be too fair, and things aren't working well!

For example: Our last rotation had each of my sons each doing half the chicken chores, plus one boy taking the trash out and the other taking out the recycling.

This seemed fair, but it certainly wasn't efficient. My sons talked it over and asked if one boy could just take over the coop and the other the trash.

So I re-assigned the jobs.  It was a much more logical approach (boys have a thing for being practical!), and everyone was much happier.

Don't Forget...

• Kids are kids. They are not tiny grown-ups. Give them some grace.
• You have got to Inspect What You Expect.
• Teach them to help each other. Your family is a team! If someone's outside walking the dog and they see the trash guys are early, teach them to grab the can and run for the curb, no matter whose job it is! Teach them that God sees when they go the extra mile, and that He is proud of them!
• Kids get sick. When someone is under the weather, lead the others by example. Everyone else pulls together to get the work taken care of! 
• Help them plan ahead. Have special plans coming up? Help your children learn to identify what can be done ahead and what can be let go for a little while.

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So there you have it. This one simple idea has saved me a ton of time. It has helped my children to take ownership of their jobs. It has helped them to strive to do them well. 

I love, love, love Long-Term Chores.

I hope you will, too.

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