Chores seem to be a hot topic with the moms. And the dads. And the kids. Do you "make" your kids do chores? Do you pay them? How much do they do? How much do you pay? Should they be paid at all? Isn't work around the house the price for being part of the family? Why do I have to do this?  How much will you pay me? How come I'm the one who has to clean the cat's box? (These last three are kid questions and should be read using your whiniest most annoying voice.)

I'm not going to tell you what I think you should do when it comes to family chore assigning. Your family is your family and my family is my family and what works for mine might not work for yours. But maybe it will so I'll share. 

Our kids do chores. They don't sing rainbow songs and give us kisses while they're doing them, but they do them with a minimum amount of fuss. And they get paid. And here's why:

Scheduling chores for our kids has taught them responsibility, service to others, and time management skills. It has also taught them that Mom is less of a housework shrew when they are on top of their jobs. Seriously, few things cheese me off more than having one of them sigh because I'm vacuuming around them while they're trying to watch the episode of Spongebob that they've already seen a million gazillion time.s AND they're behind on their chores. 

Paying our kids is just a crafty way to teach them money management before they head off to the "real world" and find themselves sucked into a life of debt. It would devastate us to find our adult children losing sleep juggling minimum balances on their 14 credit cards all because we didn't teach them how to budget and live within their means. 

 

We assign chores based on age and ability. We pay enough for them to buy stuff from the grocery store and Target, but not enough to go hog wild at either place. They also donate a portion and save a portion. They do not get paid if their work is not completed. 

Chores change each quarter and are posted inside a black picture frame hung on the wall at our kitchen desk area. This is also where the family calendar is kept and mail is sorted. A dry erase marker is kept on top of the frame for crossing off completed chores. This is then erased at the end of the week. There is a Schedule A and a Schedule B. These schedules get rotated during the quarter whenever one of the kiddos dutifully reminds me that they're tired of being the one who always (insert whine again) gets up early to feed the chickens. Also, we have quite a few garden/flower beds that require some weeding so I've divided the yard into zones and these zone assignments change with the schedule/quarter. Note: It may look like they have to weed everyday, but they don't. They can complete their weeding at anytime during those 6 days. Another Note: While I have/will teach my kids how to do laundry, this is not one of their chores. "Laundry" on the chore chart means they have to bring any dirty laundry down to the laundry room for me. This includes used bath towels, bedding, and all of the socks shoved under the couch. They also have to put away their clean laundry. Yet another note: Re: vacuuming. I'll never forget the amazement of my sweet friend, Liz, when she stopped by my home and "caught" the then-16 year old Chuckles vacuuming the living room. She was surprised to see him vacuuming the baseboards and moving furniture to clean underneath it. One of the benefits of kid chores is that you shouldn't feel the need to go back and redo their work. Teach them how do it "the right way" (when they're old enough/mature enough) and problem solved. 

The posted chores are not the only work our kids do around the house. There are unpaid "you're part of this family" things that come up that need to be done. And they do them. They still don't sing rainbow songs, but they don't whine, either. 

 Every once in a while, Pinterest does me the favor of not making me feel like a completely uncrafty loser. 

When we bought the homestead almost a year ago, we inherited quite a few things: those three chickens I won't shut up about, a drawer full of random plastic containers, the ugliest office curtains ever made, a garden run wild with persistent morning glories, and a giant pile of ancient bricks. I'm calling them "ancient" because every time The Husband and I talk about what to do with them, we keep adding a few decades onto their age and now it's to the point where we don't remember how old the previous owners said the bricks really are. 

So I decided to love the chickens and throw out the plastic junk and the hideous curtains. The Husband poisoned the morning glory and stacked the bricks up neat and tidy in the back part of the garden where they forlornly waited to be put to use. 

Enter: Pinterest

I first "pinned" the idea of making a birdbath out of bricks over a year ago to my "Super Cool Ideas" board (I really must come up with a different "super cool" name for this board) where it was quickly forgotten amid 100+ other "super cool ideas".  Then around three months ago, I came across it and repinned it to my "Great Outdoors" board. I wish I could say that was when I had my "Aha! Moment" and started building this "super cool" birdbath in our "great outdoors". It was not. No, I squirrelled (FUN FACT: Squirrelled has the longest spelling of any standard English word with one syllable if you don't spell it the American way and if you don't use an accent) away this idea until it popped back into my consciousness a couple of weeks ago. 

Enter: The Husband

Because I can sometimes be more of a dreamer than an actual transport-bricks-across-a-long-expanse-of-yard kind of gal, I delegated the building of the birdbath and used promises of chicken-fried steak to lure compliance. And The Husband did not disappoint. (Neither did the steak)

Here is a close-up:

No mortar was needed; the bricks were stacked in a random pattern that ensures stability. He placed an old saucer on top and added a couple of broken terracotta pieces so our feathered friends will have a place to perch. A few ferns and some Lily of the Valley were planted at the base and should look nice and lush soon. And once we decide on what we're doing with the rest of the bed, this should all look "super cool". 


Now I just need to revisit my Pinterest boards and figure out what to do with the rest of the bricks... 

Waaaay back in January, I listed "Start Blog" at the top of my 2014 list of goals. I should have added "Keep Up With Blog". But then winter happened.

After spending the last two decades in warmer, more southern regions, my first winter back in the Pacific NW was rough. It rained (which I didn't mind for awhile). It snowed (which I loved). It iced (which was a pain, but I hunkered down and endured). There were some health "issues". The sun developed Dissociative Identity Disorder. The chickens stopped laying. Dieting happened (and if that isn't enough to put you in a right ol' funk, I don't know what is).  And around February, we all got the homeschool winter blues. 

So here's what I've been doing since my last post:

1. Netflix 

Short list, I know. And rather pathetic. Obviously, I've done more than this, but catching up on outdated tv shows is how I spent an embarrassing amount of time. 

Whew! That confession felt good! 

So now that Spring is right around the corner, here is a peak at some of the posts you can look forward to in April (in no particular order):

1. How to get your veggie beds up and ready for spring planting
2. Homeschool Co-0p news (we finally joined one)
3. Starting from seed
4. A recipe for The Husband's Top Secret Soil Mix
5. Videos starring our curriculum
6. Our newest Pinterest Project
7. A video tour of my Home Management Binder
8. The Attic: A Before and After Story of Redemption
9. How to make a veggie trellis on the cheap
10. A baby chick update....they're still alive!!!

For those who are still with me....thank you! I will post with more regularity and have put myself on a blogging schedule since I obviously cannot be trusted to use my free time responsibly. : )