How can i get my kids to help me with housework without the fighting??

Tamera - posted on 01/20/2010

What I do with kids is make it into a game with rewards at the end. You can say sweetie who ever picks up the most toys win and then you say go. She will get very into this because kids love to be competitive

Amina - posted on 01/14/2010

Ahh yes.....the chores! My children are older but one of the best things that was introduced to me was based on a reward bucket. What I did was went out and bought a hanging jewelry bag. You can find them at Bed Bath for about $5.00. It is clear plastic and has little pockets on it, about 24. In each pocket I put jobs and on the back of the job I wrote how much it was worth.....$.25 - $1.00 depending on how big the job was. I put things like clean your room, pick up toys, load the dishes, pick up your dirty clothes, etc.

The 3 larger pockets on the bottom had their names on them and 1 with my name and they put the completed job in thier pocket then we tallied them at the end of the week. The catch was, if I had chores in mine I got to talley them and they had to split what I earned out of their earning. They really raced to get the better ones and tried to keep me from getting any. It was a way for them to earn some $$ and a way for me to get them to clean!

Try it and let me know what you think!

Erin - posted on 12/03/2009

Flylady.net

Mandy - posted on 10/22/2009

I am an army wife also and went through the same with my two boys. I would not reward for things that are their responsibility, I reward for extra jobs done. When my boys stopped cleaning their own toys, those things were taken away. I started with my youngest taking it away for a period of time, then giving them back if the rest of his things stayed cleaned up. With the oldest he was old enough and mature enough to understand and his things ( sometimes) were permanently taken away if he did not keep them cleaned up. They only lost so many things they liked before they realized they have to pick up after themselves. Not that I'm a mean mom my children get rewards and allowance for doing things that aren't there daily tasks, like picking up after the baby or putting the dogs toys back. This doesn't work with clothes and I still have a hard time with that. Why is it they would rather throw it on the floor than in the hamper not 3 feet away? If you find an answer for that one please let me know. Hope you find something that works for your family. Good luck and what ever you choose stay consistent even if it is the toy you just payed $20 for.

Heather - posted on 10/20/2009

My suggestion would be to make some reward charts for them. I know with my kids I used charts and stickers and after so many stickers they get a reward. Anything from special days or an ice cream treat just or whatever you want . They will work harder at helping if they know in the end it rewards them.