Chore Charts & Allowances for our Small Children

You guys had some great ideas on the post about chores and allowance.

Spice, about 1.5 yrs old.

I decided to sit down and write out the things the girls do (or need to do) daily.  This is what it looks like:

Sugar's Daily Chores (Sugar is 7)

Make bed.
Clean room.
Unload the dishwasher (this sometimes happens 3x per day!)
Feed the animals breakfast.
Sweep the bathroom floor.
Set the table for dinner.

Spice's Daily Chores (Spice is 4)

Make bed.
Clean room.
Unload the dishwasher.
Empty the bathroom garbage.
Feed the animals dinner.
Clear the dinner table.

Here is a breakdown of what they're required to do throughout the week:

For Sugar, along with her daily chores, her weekly chores look like this:

Monday:
Bring up the garbage can from the driveway.
Take out the kitchen garbage.

Tuesday:
Help Mama start laundry.
Help Mama fold laundry.
(Spice will put away)

Wednesday:
Take out kitchen garbage

Thursday:
Daily chores only

Friday:
Clean toilet
Help Mama put away laundry.
Take out kitchen garbage.

For Spice, along with her daily chores, her weekly chores look like this:

Monday:
Dust living room.
Vacuum entry carpet.

Tuesday:
Help Mama put laundry away.

Wednesday:
Vacuum entry carpet.

Thursday:
Daily chores only.

Friday:
Help Mama start laundry.
Help Mama fold laundry.
(Sugar will put away)
Clean bathroom sink.
Vacuum entry carpet.

So far I've only written this out on a sheet of paper (one time!) but plan to make a sticker chart.  They have to do the jobs whether they want to or not, but they will receive stickers when a job is completed with a happy heart.

If, at the end of the week, they have a full chart of stickers, they can pick a prize.

Redbox and popcorn night
Tea Party
30 minutes of televsion
Nintendo 64. (we're so old school)
Outing to the park
(i'm sure i'll think of more next to free prizes they can choose from)

Since I want them to learn about money, the saving, the giving, the spending - I've decided that there are certain jobs for which they can earn money.  Here are a few of those things:

Scooping the dog sh poop from our yard.  (no easy feat as there are four dogs who enjoy our yard for doing their bidness.)
Working on the rigs with their daddy.  Whether this is rotating tires, changing the oil, cleaning the inside or outside - this is a way they can earn money.
Yard work.  We have four lawns we take care of.  Our own, a widow down the road, Josh's parent's and his grandparent's lawn.  When we do work over there, if the girls should decide to help, they may earn money.
Every once in awhile my mother-in-law will ask me to clean her house for her for a few hours.  Usually I stick in a movie for the girls to watch or Josh's dad will take them on errands, but I've decided this is another way they can earn money.  If they decide to help rather than sit on their bums watching tv, they can pocket some cash.

At this point I'm not sure of the cash value of these jobs.  I want it to be enough that they'll be able to save for items they want without it taking three lifetimes to do so, but not so much that I'm killing my own bank account.

I'm really looking forward to implementing this with the girls and teaching them the value of hard work and hard work with a happy heart.  I pray that when they leave our home that they are hardworking women who know how to run a household, make money and know how to properly spend and save that which they've earned.

Work

Anonymous

Work while you work, 

Play while you play; 

This is the way

To be happy each day.

All that you do,

Do with your might;

Things done by halves

Are never done right.