Hey guys!
So today, I want to talk about time management and how I deal with life as a mom of 5 (6 if you count Payton…lol…jk).
As you can guess, life for me is so crazy busy and constantly hectic. At one point, I literally would come home from work and cry because of everything that needed to be done (don’t think that this does not still happen sometimes)! Dinner, laundry, dishes, cleaning, baths, brushing teeth, showers, bedtime. So much to do, not enough time. I was stressing more about getting things done then actually spending time doing the things that I needed to do.
Sooooo at some point I realized that my kids also needed to be held accountable! First, I started with a basic chore chart. I bought a whiteboard for my kitchen and wrote out name, day of the week and what chore they were expected to do. Some days it worked, some days it didn’t. So I took some time to think about what might motivate them. I came to one thought. Money.
We all work to live, right? We are motivated by money, right? Why wouldn’t a 10, 8 and 6 year old (Keegan does chores, but isn’t held as accountable since he just turned 4). So now I knew that money would help, but how could I incorporate it?
I asked around to people that I know and googled (my own worst enemy), finally I got a great idea from my boss. She told me a story about how her son and his girlfriend do chore charts for money. I then came up with my own by incorporating their idea.
So I have 3 levels and each is paid differently. First level are daily chores (the have to be done) and they pay $0.25. Everyday, they HAVE to pick up their dirty clothes, make their bed, brush their teeth (I am well aware that these are NOT things we get paid for as adults, but I am trying to get them to hold THEMSELVES accountable). They have the option to do them, without being reminded or nagged, and get paid their rate per day that it is done. If they have to be told to do it, they don’t get their weekly payout.
Level 2 – These are worth $1.00 and are done everyday as well. Some examples are, sweeping the house, mopping the floors, cleaning counters, vacuuming, and cleaning the cat box (there are more), They do NOT have to do them daily, but can and can earn faster.
Last is the $5.00 bracket. This bracket is doing the dishes, cleaning the bathrooms, cleaning the playroom, cleaning bedrooms and cleaning the living room. These are weekly chores. It is their job to make sure that their area is clean and presentable that entire week.
I give them the option to pick out which chores, if any, they want to do daily. And guess what? They are now fighting over who gets to do the most chores. It is fantastic! Guess who gets to come home and cook and not clean? Even better, they asked to save their money so they can use it to Christmas shop! How CUTE and SWEET is that?!
So now, since my kids cleaned my house….I have time to write this blog and catch up on my Instagram! I am able to come home, deal with homework (they have had it all done lately), make dinner and give baths and then spend time with them! I put them to bed and get time to do what I want. I typically only blog and Instagram on nights that Payton works though. Since his shifts are so long, I prefer to spend as much time with him as I can.
So, do you guys use money to entice your kids? If not how do you do it?
