No More Nagging!

"The wise in heart will be called understanding, And sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness,"  (Proverbs 16:21).

Lately, I have been tired of the sound of my voice, especially when my nagging tone comes out of the mouths of my children toward others. For years, I have wanted to do a chore chart that was fun and not just another thing to get done during the day (or to feel guilty about when it wasn't used).


I've had this pocket chart for over 6 months now, and we finally got this up and running!  I modified the idea from Confessions of a Homeschooler. This is the first full day we've implemented the chart, and things have went beautifully!


Ah, to not have to nag anymore!

 

The kids helped me, and we decided to use the same set of daily chores for each day, just transferring them to the next day as they're completed today. We used yellow for daily AM chores, blue for daily PM chores, and then green for weekly and red for monthly (no reds are up yet).

With this system, each of us (including mom) will vacuum the floors once a day, and that means four times a week! (Yay!--with that, and the daily chore of swiffering the floors and brushing the dog, we shouldn't see as much dog hair on the floors!)

 

Iain and Sara cleaned their bedrooms before breakfast! They are vacuum ready, which is wonderful!

In addition to constantly nagging the kids to get their chores done, I was playing referee all the time. I also spent time frustrated that my kids didn't volunteer to do the obvious things that needed to be done--they waited to be told to do it.

Prayerfully, I created these cards. The white one is "I was a peacemaker!" and the yellow one is "I took initiative!"  The requirement for filling these out is they have to be a peacemaker or take initiative on their own (without Mom or Dad prompting them).

 

The kids are no longer permitted to use electronics unless they have "tickets." I have red tickets (purchased from Walmart and left over from a drawing we did at our homeschool co-op). Each ticket will be worth ten minutes of electronics use (TV, computer, DS, iPod) or credit toward things in a prize box, their choice. No tickets, no electronics. No exceptions.

They earn tickets by completing their chores, having good attitudes and character (being peacemakers/taking initiative!), being respectful and diligent in their schoolwork . . .  you get the picture.

Last night, I took Kyla to art class. When I came back, Iain and Sara had unloaded the dishwasher and reloaded it with dinner dishes (after rinsing them), cleaned up the dining room table and kitchen counters, and took their showers without any help from me.

This morning, they all jumped up and got busy. In addition to the normal morning chores they've had for a year or so, we added exercising for 15 minutes.

When we did our Bible time, I went down the checklist of things they needed to get done. Not everyone got all their morning chores done, so they will have to do them after lunch (instead of having free play outside).

Even though our system is far from perfect, at least now we have a fun no-nag way to get chores done!