Chore Charts Can Curb Complaining

Chore Charts Can Curb Complaining

When we adopted our two sweet children, we sort of went into “survival” mode. Both children had emotional issues, and they need weekly behavioral therapy. Bella was enrolled in a therapy school, and Casey had physical, occupational, and speech therapy. I was spending hours and hours each day on the road. I was happy if I could somewhat maintain the house, and assigning chores to my kids wasn’t even on my radar.

Now, things are different. My kids have graduated from all their therapy programs. They are sweet, happy children. You’d never know that a not so long ago they had major issues. (Thank you, God!) But they are still kids and they have normal daily struggles just like any other child–or adult. One thing that helps keep our order from falling into chaos is chores.

With such a big family, it would be impossible to accomplish all the things we need to get done every day if we didn’t share the work. We believe that’s part of being a family–everyone works together to keep things running smoothly. So we taught our children how to be responsible for themselves and others by doing household chores.

This is how we got started:

First, I found a FREE printable chore chart here.

I printed up several BLANK copies of the chart so I could tailor them for my kids.

This website also gave me great ideas of what kids could do at different ages.

Here’s a sample list we started with:

Bella

• Pick up toys
• Put laundry in hamper
• Take dishes to sink after meal
• Make bed
• Set plates and cups for dinner
• Match socks

Alyssa

• Pick up toys
• Put laundry in hamper
• Sort laundry
• Take dishes to sink after meal
• Make bed
• Set napkins and silverware for dinner

Casey

• Pick up toys
• Put laundry in hamper
• Check mailbox
• Take dishes to sink after meal
• Make bed

As they have gotten older I’ve added more, but this was a great place to start!

If you’re just starting out with chores, know it might take a couple of weeks for your kids to get their chores down, but the work you put in now will be worth it. I saw this with my first round of kids. Just know that the more training you put in now will benefit your family’s teamwork later.

Daily Prayer

Dear Lord,

Sometimes it’s so much easier just to do things myself than to train my children. Yet I know that so much of “today” is really about “tomorrow” and the men and women they will grow to be. Help me to be diligent, Lord, to teach them diligence. Help me to be faithful with my time, attention, home and resources, so my children will understand how to be faithful in all things you have so graciously given us.

In Jesus name, Amen.

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