Innovate Anything

Maya is almost 8 and we still struggle with a consistent chore routine for her.  My husband was careful not to associate ‘allowance money’ with chores in that it may distort her thinking about what it means to help out around the house.  She’s already resistant to any household duties we ask her to do and comes up with every excuse to avoid doing them.  Hence, the ‘chore chart’ was born.  Let’s face it, kids are visual.  They love seeing their progress through imagery.  So on Saturday morning, Daddy comes home with a large white board, fancy arts & crafts tape, colored markers and cute little magnets.  Maya is immediately inspired and they complete their beautiful masterpiece.  Pretty simple actually.  Days down the left.  Chores across the top.  Maya earns a point for each chore she completes, represented by a magnet piece.  We total her ‘magnets’ each day and she wins a nightly reward.  Not monetary…but special rewards like a board game with Dad, dolls with mom or 20 minutes on her tablet.  If she earns enough points at the end of the week, she gets a weekend bonus reward (movie, play-date, roller-skating, afternoon at the mall).  I have to admit, this was pretty ingenious of him.  So far, so good.  She still gets an allowance, but it’s entirely separate of the chore chart.  The key for us is consistency.  Tonight’s reward was make-overs and dress-up with mommy.  I may hire her 🙂