Kids and chores....

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

OK I know we did some lists here if what our kids do..... so how do you get them to do it?

My girls are in a giddy mood today and will NOT get moving on the chores list! Everything turns into a game. While I love hearing their giggles - I feel like the original scrooge yelling at them to get a move on!!

And DH is sleeping off a midnight shift and trying to get them to quiet down would make a saint swear

Any hints would be appreciated I am losing what patience I have left

 

[Wildsky]

Don't fight it - let them play WHILE they do chores, tell them you don't mind them making up games as they go but they must get the stuff done.

 

[Chirpy]

We have an actual written list of repercussions if someone doesn't do their chores in a certain time frame

Thus, our kids know what discipline to expect.

For example: whoever has dishes for the day has one hour after we finish our meal to have the kitchen cleaned up. If they don't have it done in one hour they lose three days of computer/game time. Our kids love their computer/game time so they have yet to miss their deadlines.

I think you need to find something that they really enjoy (it may be different with every child) and make sure they understand that if a certain chore isn't finished by a certain time they lose that privilege. My oldest daughter lives to ride her bike around our property. So, she loses that privilege if she doesn't finish her chores.

I used to threaten (just for fun) to duct tape my little ones to the wall if they misbehaved. I came home one day to find my teenage boys had just finished literally duct taping my 5 year old son to the wall (they used an entire roll of duct tape). He was just hanging there and thought it was the funniest thing they'd ever done to him. He keeps asking us to do it again....

 

[conroy]

I threaten to take away video games....I usually only have to threaten once...LOL 'cause they know I will.

 

[HennysMom]

Put some music on and make a game of it... tell them they have to finish their chores by the end of so many songs - any chores that aren't done by such and such song - then there will be reprocussions (30 min early bed, computer time taken, etc).

I find my kids work MUCH better when they have music on - but...I have to have a time frame or they'll take F O R E V E R doing their chores - so like a 3 song limit to clean the bathroom (average song is 2 -3 minutes) - vacuuming the rugs is about 4 songs, etc.

Again, you need to look at the songs though - some songs are short while others are long. Pick a CD and look at the time of the songs, then you decide what chores can be accomplished in certain songs' timeframes.

Music always makes things better

 

[Tn Gamebirds]

Around our house if we dont do what were told we get a good spanking !

Usually dont have to tell the kids twice!!

I guess were still old fashioned.

But it works

 

[key west chick]

Tell them Santa's watching!

 

[menageriemama]

If my son (age 9) drags his feet, I make him go to his room and sit on his bed until he is ready to cooperate. Let me add that he is not the kind of kid who enjoys being stuck on his bed all day- so this approach may not work too well when he is a teen

It usually takes less than five minutes for his attitude to change.

 

[FunnyFarmer]

I got really tired of that whole thing with my kids too. My solution (at least for their morning chores) was to say that nobody got breakfast until the chores were done. I don't have too much of a problem anymore--my son especially is quite eager to get his breakfast in the morning!.

Erika

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

OK I actually read over this list with my 8 year old who promptly told me that "Repercussions don't work well for me, they just make me slow down even more."

So basically, I told her she could take as long as she wanted but that all of her chores needed to be done before she did her homework. She was up until 9:30! She was tired and wanted to go to bed by that point. But, I still caught her sitting in her room reading instead of putting away her laundry.

I have tried music, forfeiting books and computer time, incentives, and even the fly lady's fifteen minute clean up boogie! We even did one day of clean for fifteen minutes play for fifteen clean for fifteen..... We played where they were CInderella and I was the wicked step mother! It all works for about ten minutes!

Any more ideas gang??