I am reading a book called Sanity in the Summertime by Linda Dillow and Claudia Arp. I adapted the I Love you mom list from this. In the book they recognize that often moms set up many different types of chore charts that are motivational for a short time, but then the charts fall by the wayside. I do the same thing, and usually end up feeling like a failure for not keeping up with it. The authors had the same tendencies, but they realized that it was normal and just kept making efforts with various chore charts. The I Love You, Mom Chart is just a one time checklist of things to do before going on a fun excursion.
I think that my boys liked doing this because there was the hope of the payoff at the end, and also because they had a finite list of things to do. Usually, they are willing to do chores and help out, but become frustrated when I continue to come up with things that need to be done. This way, they knew that they were done when all the spaces were checked. The list that I used today looked like this for each boy:
Note the fun things included in the list just to keep them going!
We are going to see Night at the Museum at 1:45. We will need to leave for the movies about 45 minutes before it starts to make sure we get there in time to get tickets.Read the entire list before doing it. You may do the things in any order.
Caleb's I Love you Mom List:
_____ Clean up around desk... beneath, beside, on top etc.
_____ Clean up clothes and other stuff that has fallen off onto the closet floor. Hang up clothes if needed.
______ Give mom a kiss.
______ Bless the Family by doing a job that needs to be done, but is not on this list. YOUR chance to HONOR!!
_______ Pick up all your stuff of of your room floor. Tidy up!
_____ Make sure Libby is out of her kennel.
______ Pet Libby and tell her how much you love her.
______Wipe down bathroom countertops with a clorox wipe.
______ Swiffer the hardwood floors.
_______ Give Dad a hug.
______ Dust living room.
_______ Put away clothes from your tub.
_______ Bring completed list to mom for a chance to spend $3.00 to spend at the movies.
Jonathan's I Love you Mom List
______ Clean off desk top. Make it look nice and neat.
______ Give Dad a Kiss.
______ Bless the Family by doing a job that needs to be done, but is not on this list. YOUR chance to HONOR!!
_______ Pick up all your other stuff off of the floor of your room and tidy it up.
______ Put away the pile that is on the dining room chair.. even if it is Caleb's stuff. Most is yours anyway, I think.
_______ Feed Tom
________ Push the I feel good button for Tom.
________ Wipe off your bathroom toilet with clorox wipes... get the pee off the bottom of the toilet too, please. Throw wipes away and don't wipe the pee anywhere else.
______ Tidy up the sports equipment, helmets, bats, ball and stuff in the garage.
_______ Give Mom a hug.
_______ Use the glass cleaner to clean the back door glass and the kitchen table.
________ Put away clothes from your tub.
________ Give this completed list to mom for a chance to spend $3.00 at the movies!!
The list only took me about 10 minutes to create. It was motivational for the boys and was a great for preventing complaining and bad attitude: Both boys were done with their lists by 9:00 am. I need to remember to put more on them in the future!!
On another note, I am just keeping it real by leaving in all the chores for Jonathan including the pee wiping! If you know me, you know that pee on the toilet is an ongoing problem in our family. I tell him that when he is a grown up and has a house of his own, I am going to come and tee-tee all over his guest room bathroom just like he does to mine. We have worked and worked on that one with those boys. I am out of ideas so now I just have them clean it. I usually go behind them and clean too, but it is the principle, you know!
Have a great Memorial Day!
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5 comments:
Good ideas! I like the "bless us" by doing something not on the list one especially!
What a great idea!!! I wish I would've known about this when my boys were young. I was always trying to find creative ways to get stuff done.
You and I both share being surrounded by testosterone... so I totally understand the bathroom cleaning problems. Ha!!
All I would like to know is HOW EXACTLY DOES PEE END UP BEHIND THE TOILET AND ON THE SHOWER CURTAIN?????????????????
Great idea!
What I want to know is how to get rid of the permanent urine smell that is now in the tile grout? DISGUSTING!! Scented candles don't last long enough!
Who's Tom?
What extra project did each boy take on?
This reminds me of my mom's Saturday morning lists for Susan and me. We were of an age where we could dust and vacuum, so one would vacuum one end of the house and the other vac the other end; then the assigned ends of the house were swapped for dusting. Each cleaned a bathroom, big and little. That alternated week too, and you can BET we kept track of which we'd done last time! The lists would be on the built-in-desk in the kitchen. (Jeremy should remember that location; so fun for little kids, and teenage girls on the phone, to tuck themselves into the knee space below.) We could take our time doing the tasks, but the Rule was we couldn't go outside and play until they were all done. Susan would scurry around, get hers all checked off, and then head outside to play. I on the other hand, loved to lollygag around on Saturday mornings so I'd waaaaatch cartoons on TV, dilly-dally around here and there, and eventually get around to doing my chores. Blessed Mom: I don't remember her nagging. Just reminding me The Rule about work/play!
I like your tactic to connect the chores with a good prize -- sounds good for smaller boys.
So happy I didn't have brothers, from the sounds of the toilet (/floor/shower curtain) issues!
xoxAR
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