chores for four

A week after school got out, we began our summer routine of chores. CLICK HERE to see LAST YEAR's system. A few things were tweaked to last year's chore system, like the addition of Jonah & Micah mowing our lawn, and the allowance pay was increased to $2.00 a week for each of the older boys if they got their chores done without complaining. They've done fairly well so far this summer with waking up and getting their chores done each day early in the morning. The biggest struggle has been with Micah and the garden...

On Fridays, the only chores the boys have to do is clean their room and weed the pumpkin patch or garden (whatever needs it the worst--and we tell them which one it is each week). When they weed the garden, they're each in charge of one row. When they weed the pumpkin patch, they usually have to do two rows. The first few weeks of summer, all that we weeded was the garden because it needed it more. Our garden is on the outskirts of the pumpkin patch. There are 2 rows of corn, which Ammon weeds, and two rows that include potatoes, onions, and carrots and Jonah & Micah each do one of those rows.

After 2 weeks, I noticed that Micah's potatoes only looked 1/2 done. So, I deducted half of his weeding pay that week for only doing half the job. Then I told him his whole pay would be taken away the following week if he didn't do it right. The next week, he again only did 1/2 the potatoes. So, he got his whole allowance taken away. He said he didn't care about the money. So, I told him if he didn't do it right the following week, he would earn no money PLUS have privileges taken away. Then him & I got into a big argument about it. His main complaint was "But mom,  you NEVER have to weed the garden, so WHY do I?". (side note: I do weed the raspberries, the flowers, and the pumpkin patch, but not the vegetable garden). I explained to him several times that dad and I both work 2 jobs each to support the family, and each member of the family has to do his part to help with the household, and weeding the garden is one of the ways the boys help the family. The argument went on and on, and I was so frustrated with him. The next week, he actually weeded his whole row of potatoes, so I paid him in full. Three days later, however, Josh was working in the pumpkin patch, and noticed that half of the potatoes in Micah's row had disappeared. Micah had chosen that week to weed the potatoes using a hoe instead of his hands. Not only did it take away the weeds, but it pulled up and killed half the potatoes, too. Jonah saw what Micah did, and decided to try it too. It killed about 1/4 the potoatoes in Jonah's row as well. This is a photo of the worst section of it (Micah's is the left row, Jonah's is the right):

I was LIVID! I made Micah give me half of his allowance back, and Jonah give me 1/4 of his. I yelled at them for a half hour about the consequences of their actions...that Josh & I work to pay for groceries for the family, and the garden supplies us with food we don't have to pay for, and now they took away some of that grown food from us because of lazyness and not following directions for how it should be done. Argghhhh. Ever since then, though, it's been much better. Micah's turned into a pretty good weeder, and no longer complains about it!

This is also one more change to last year's chore system: now that Kanyon is 5 1/2, he's started learning this summer how to do regular chores. Every other week, I train him on how to do a chore in his assigned room: the laundry room. I've taught him how to sweep, mop, wash windows, and wash surfaces (wall, fridge, door). He earns 50 cents a week to do the dishes (the boys all have a weekly assigned day when they have to help), and to clean the laundry room. He also has gotten better this year about doing his own laundry, and I've been teaching him how to fold his own clothes before putting them away in his drawers. Because he is so small, this is how he loves to unload the clothes from the dryer!:

I firmly believe in raising independent children. Josh believes in raising hard-working children. Although it occasionally requires a lot of effort to teach them to do be independent and hard-working, I feel that it is worth it to promote their self-esteem and create awarenesss of their capabilities. I raise my boys based upon the standards of  this statement from the Family Proclamation: "Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, WORK, and wholesome recreational activities".