Be a Better Parent Challenge - Day 28 - Get your kids involved

Today's Be a Better Parent Challenge - Day 28 - Get your kids involved

Today's Challenge #28: Get your kids involved should help make you think of ways that even your littlest kids can get involved in your daily household duties. I realize that this can make chores even more like chores, but overall, it's good for them to have some responsibility, and it will, at some point, give you a break.I tend to make my girls responsible for their own rooms and their own messes. Obviously, they don't clean it to my standard because they are 3 & 5, but they feel a sense of accomplishment and pride in doing it to the best of their ability. I always praise and never discourage ( I normally just wait until they are out of the room and do it to standard). The point is they feel like they are contributing and they are learning responsibility. This is  great challenge because it is never to early to learn responsibility. I think it raises our children to be active and responsible in their families and their communities!

We've tried the chore chart around our house, but it seems to not work so great for us. I don't kn ow if it is their ages or my lack of attention the chart, either way we tend to deviate. I think chore charts are amazing in theory and I think if the girls were slightly older, we'd be golden. We are also going to start allowances  based on their age (so $5 and $3) which I will track on a sheet that we keep on our fridge fro them to see.We have just been putting money into an account but I think actually giving them the money to put in their banks may be more exciting and a better lesson learned by the tangibility of actaully seeing what they've Earned.

Hopefully, this will work well, even for Gabs - and we include things like "Go potty" "Brush Teeth" (both naptime and bedtime) " Only changing clothes once a day"  "Putting dirty clothes in hamper"  these challenges tend to make life difficult.. However, they also has jobs like "Pushing in chair, asking to be excused and putting dishes in sink" and "Make your bed" too.
  Bella has more challenging tasks like setting the kitchen table, letting the dog out, and helping me sort the laundry. I also need to add "layout uniform for the next morning"  and "Practice ballet" to her list as well.

Here are some other things Kristen has her kids do that may work for you as well:
*Laundry game - Quinlan can fold her clothes, but Drew and Margot can help sort their own clothes out and make a pile. Kristen then has them do a toss (basketball style) for a small prize.
*Recycling - They keep our recycle bin right outside the door to our garage, so all the kids can put stuff out when  needed.
*Emptying trash -Her son loves trash trucks, so his job is to help her empty all the house trash cans.
 So far this year, this system has been working well. Feel free to share what works for your family.