Stress Free Big Family Chores


In my  Top 5 Tips For Big Family Home Management, I discuss the importance and benefits of a Chore System.  This blog will go into more detail of how we make it work with our family of TEN kids in a  no stress, simple and effective way.

There are a number of benefits to having a chore system for your family.  Building character, training in practical life skills, having a cleaner more comfortable home just to name a few. Different families approach it in different way so there is flexibility to discover through trial and error what works best for you.  Some people do allowances, chore charts or sticker systems.  Whatever you do, I recommend you start somewhere and start early (once they can walk they often enjoy putting things in bins! )

Our family chose to forgo an allowance to impress upon our children the expectation that we serve our family out of love not reward.  They are encouraged to seek employment and business opportunities from the time they are about 11. I’ll share in a later post more about how we help our kids manage money!

After trying a few chore approaches we discovered an annual-mastery focused approach that works great for us! It works like this: every September I make a new chore list for the kids ages 6+ based on their ability and my priorities. I have a list of all the chores we choose to do to keep our home to the level of comfort and cleanliness I prefer.  Some are done daily such as dinner dishes, sweeping, taking out the recycling. Others are every other day or so such as taking their turn to walk the dog, bathrooms, Finally are the once a week chore such as laundry, vacuuming, mopping, garbages. I assign them to each child based on their ability to learn/manage the chore then provide coaching, training and even laminated checklists so that they can learn to do the chore well over the course of the year.

They have the whole year to work on mastering the skill and doing it with a good attitude. If they do well in both they can graduate out into a new chore! If not, they can work on their attitude/skill for another year. No biggie — responsibility is a self-rewarding system. By year 2 they are motivated to graduate.

The chores cycle every few years so everyone gets the opportunity to improve their technique in each part of the home. The variety and self-rewarding system is an incentive to the kids of all ages. The new list every year is a surprisingly exciting time. I’m happy because the chores are getting done on time (usually after dinner), the house is comfortable, the kids are getting excellent life training, and I’m working myself out of a job — at least, the house cleaner part of mothering.  This frees me up so I can manage the home…not be managed by it.

PS - For more mom of many encouragement & practical advice feel free to join my Big Family Moms - From Struggling to Growing in Grace Facebook group! Check it out HERE.

 

 

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