Progress Report on Chores: Room Inspection

Six weeks have passed since we unveiled new annual chores for our children, so I thought I'd give an update for the few of my readers who have been talking to me about starting their children on some, or increased, chores.

I had read "Managers of Their Chores" most recently in a string of home management books and the author had explained that any chore system will fail most of the time because the mother does not implement time for inspection or consequences. She wrote that over and over again.

I read it over and over again.

I wrote about it on this blog.

And I made the mistake anyway.

Week after week was passing with the morning time of getting ready for the day and the evening time of getting ready for bed remaining as problematic as ever. I'd remind each child what he or she was to be doing, I'd go do one chore of mine (e.g., make a bed, brush my hair), then I'd check on children and find them playing Legos, fighting, or generally flopping about. My temper would rise higher and higher. I'd remind the children endlessly without giving consequences.

Mama's Inspection Notebook

Finally, I consulted with Chris and got my act together. I grabbed a handy dandy notebook and we told the children that each morning I would inspect them and their rooms before we proceeded on to our family chore for the day, which we do alongside each other (e.g., cleaning bathrooms on Thursdays), and before they would be allowed to go downstairs. I give them about 15 minutes to do their getting ready, which is ample time for Getting Dressed, Putting Pajamas in Drawer, Making One's Bed, Brushing Teeth (and, if a girl: calling Mama over to Brush Hair).

I had previously kept trying to follow the MOTC author's suggestion that consequences be writing of sentences of the actual chores that were not done. However, that requires having pencils and writing paper at hand near the scene of the crime (the bedrooms), and then standing over the child supervising, when the child might decide to hold the parent hostage by not writing sentences, etc.

Thus: docking allowances. My wise (and emotionally un-embroiled) husband reminded me that we began paying an allowance last year when the children took on a lot more chores, and didn't we say it was tied to chores, that we'd dock the money if they didn't do the work thoroughly and cheerfully? So, we reminded the children that when I come to inspect, if the chores aren't done, money will be docked.

The first day of inspections, one headstrong child decided to test mommy and said child simply flopped on the ground for the whole fifteen minutes, despite Mama calling out that she was coming down the hall to inspect the room. That child lost all the allowance for the day.

I was sure the children would lose all their money for the week, but my husband encouraged me to persevere . . . and you know what?

Every other day this week, both older children have been perfect at inspection time morning and evening.

I walk around with my Official-Looking Notebook, it takes me all of one or two minutes total, I write down if they're getting docked or I write down that they did a perfect job (and praise them).

So, six weeks of parental heartache and hard work, so many cumulative hours spent training the children, and I feel like we're starting to see some good results.