Nicole feels

With the new year brought a revamping of the household chores. Each kiddo has always had some, and they've increased with time and age. It's one of the bennies of them growing up - they can clean! But more than that, after having a 21-year-old with no core living skills stay with us for 6 months, I can honestly say that we would not be doing them any favors by not allowing them to participate in the general upkeep of the house.

Each week I print out a new chart. They have check boxes, and when they get home from school, or after they've been up a bit on the weekends, they start tackling them. I have kids dusting and vacuuming and even scrubbing pots now!

When they are done for the day, one of us parental units initial it, and they are off to do what kids do.

It's quite excellent.

They also got increases in their allowances. And they will get the allowance regardless of completing the chores. Instead, we take away a cherished privelege or activity if chores are skipped. But announcing an increase in the weekly payout sure helped the new-list-news go down sweetly.

I included other to-do's on their chart too, like homework and reading. I realized that if I don't have a list myself, I have trouble focusing. So why not give them one to work from?

So far, so good.

And the sink is empty much more often these days.

Bonus.