Teaching kids to work

I was reading on a friend's blog how she tries to balance teaching her older kids to work without making them feel like they are ALWAYS cleaning up after the younger ones in a big family.

I thought I would post what we do. My boys do quite a bit of cleaning, Ryan sometimes complains, but Tyler just jumps in and does it. Usually 10 minutes before breakfast/school, 10 minutes before lunch, then about 5-20 minutes at the most before dad comes home/dinner. There's a scripture (2 Thessalonians 2: 10) that says you must work or not eat, and since it's in the scriptures, they don't argue. :)

We tie it to their allowance. They get $1 per year of age on the first fast Sunday of the month minus some if they didn't do their jobs good-- they tell me how much to subtract. We switch jobs then if needed too. They pay tithing and then can save it or spend it over the next bit. They can't buy candy at the store, but I keep candy bars and Gatorade here that they can buy for $1 or sometimes they buy other treats-- yes, I inflate the prices on those too. But if they choose to buy something healthy, I will split the cost with them if they agree to share it. Last week Ryan bought a big thing of pretzel mix, Tyler bought a bag of rolls (white bread is a treat), and Jeanisha bought a bag of pears. They are really good at sharing with each other too. I think half the fun is that they get to "control" the sharing. Jeanisha has me cut one pear at a time for her to divvy out and loves to remind the boys that SHE bought it.

They rarely ask for me to buy them something because they know the answer will be, you can buy it with your allowance, and they usually don't want it if THEY have to pay for it. They also know that if they wear out their clothes by mistreating them-- like running around outside with just socks on, they have to buy replacements, because mom only pays for things once. I don't think they thought I was serious, until I bought a bag, figured out the cost per pair, and charged them. They haven't even had to buy all the pairs in that package yet and are being much more careful-- and reminding each other. As Ryan puts it, "Mom pays for needs, we pay for wants."


Oh, we also pay them interest on what they save at the rate of 10% per month until they turn 10, then I'll have to reevaluate. Ryan is starting to become a pretty good saver. His goal is to earn more each month through interest then his allowance. :)

Our system works pretty good. Tyler just asked if he could be responsible for picking up the 3 main rooms (kitchen, living room, and family room) and vacuuming the whole house--his favorite job and he is very meticulous about it. He wants to do the work of a 7 year old, so he can earn more even though he's not 7 until April. I was fine with that. :)

Ryan puts away the clean dishes, cleans the bathrooms (his choice because they don't get as messy as the rooms Tyler chooses. Tyler doesn't want them because they are the "gross" job, so it works out great), takes out the trash, and puts away folded laundry. He also picks up the kids bedroom which doesn't have much because they don't have any toys or clothes in there. Their clothes dresser is in the living room and the toys are in the family room or in bins in the storage room, so most of the time there is only one bin out in the bedroom.

I would love to see what jobs your kids do. So if you read this and write on your blog, post a comment and let me know.