Family Chore Drama?

Which jobs around the house do you dread the most?
I always dread organizing all of the papers that add up in my house.  If I'm honest there are a lot of jobs around the house that I don't enjoy doing... they just need to get done.

Our kids feel the same way about many of their chores or household jobs. They can think of a million things they would rather be doing! Why should they spend the time to clean their room or make their bed... it's just going to get messy again.

But household chores need to get done. If everyone pitches in, the work gets done so much faster!

Saturday morning is typically our chore day and here are a few secrets to success:

1. a specific list of things each person does * we use a dry erase board and they can swipe it clean when the job is done
2. fun music while we work
3. helping out my kids who struggle the most with their jobs.  Rather than getting frustrated when the jobs aren’t getting done, if I partner with them we can get to the fun!
4. something to look forward to doing together after chores!

Are you struggling with your teamwork in your family? Asking my kids to pitch in and help, even in small ways, used to bring about huge meltdowns for one of my kids. If I asked her to put her shoes away she would launch into hours of explosive behaviors. It felt pretty hopeless. I had to choose between asking her to do something and dealing with the meltdown.. or doing it myself and having a good day. But I wanted her to grow and be a part of our family team. I found that I needed to change my approach to her and learn some new tricks in order to see growth and healing for her and in our relationship. Reach out to me if you could use more tools in your parenting journey. You are not alone. There is always room for growth and healing.