| Getting your fantastic kids to help with daily chores | | | | and not for the king or queen bee who doesn't help. |
| can be as difficult as pulling hen's teeth. After begging | | | | If they finish the general pick up before the timer goes |
| and pleading, parents often give up or turn to the | | | | off, grab the glass cleaner and have them clean a |
| famous family chore chart for relief. | | | | window, or the TV screen. |
| Chore charts are great... but after the newness wears | | | | When you're finished... off for ice cream you go. After |
| off, they often become just part of the clutter on the | | | | dinner, of course. |
| counter or fridge. Parents have to be very clever in | | | | This parenting tip worked best when I worked right |
| their parenting skills, to get kids to help cheerfully. | | | | along with my kids. |
| Kids often become overwhelmed with chores, | | | | Penny Jar Clean Up |
| especially if they haven't been trained how to | | | | Toss your loose pennies into a jar. When you need a |
| accomplish the job. "Go clean your room," can seem | | | | room cleaned up, tell your kids you'll pay them a penny |
| like an overwhelming task to a young child, especially if | | | | for every item they pick up. Besides toys, etc., scraps |
| the room is particularly cluttered. | | | | of paper count... even the tiny ones. |
| Here are a couple of parenting techniques I discovered | | | | Have them lay out their items on the table and count |
| and found to be successful in getting my kids to help | | | | them. Once the items are counted, they throw them |
| with the family chores... with a little less disagreement | | | | away, or put them away for an extra ten-cent bonus. |
| from them. | | | | Two hundred items for $2.00... that's a deal! |
| 15 Minute Tidy | | | | This game was especially successful with my very |
| ¨Set the timer on the stove. Tell the kids, "We | | | | young children... the older kids didn't buy into it very well. |
| have 10 minutes to tidy up this room. If we can do it in | | | | They were into the "big bucks." |
| the time frame... we'll all go out for ice cream. Work as | | | | Try these two parenting methods for getting daily |
| fast as you can." If there's a slacker in the group, | | | | chores completed with less complaint from your kids. |
| remind him that ice cream is only for the worker bees | | | | |