My two older kids have regular chores they do on a daily basis, plus weekly chores that are supposed to be done every Saturday.


My 13 year old is responsible for keeping the kitchen tidy during the day and doing the dishes after dinner each night.

My 10 year old is responsible for keeping the living room and play room tidied up each day.

On Saturdays, they do those, as well as clean their own bedrooms and collect all the trash out of various bins in each room. And the 13 year old also cleans the kids' bathroom.

They do get paid well for these chores with a weekly allowance. No chores done...no allowance. 1/2 chores done...1/2 allowance. And they can take on extra chores for extra money, if they choose to do so, such as vacuuming, or folding laundry.

There are days when I really have to ride them to get things finished, and those days are frustrating. But I try to never let them get away with not finishing them, because that just teaches them it's OK to start a job and not finish it. Over time, they are gradually learning that it's easier to just do it and get it over with than to have Mom on their backs all afternoon. But we're by no means perfect at it and some days we're ALL lazy and nothing gets done at all! LOL (But at least we didn't start something we didn't finish...we started a lazy day and finished it! )

My 3 year old helps me with laundry, tossing clothes into the dryer as I pull them out of the washer. But he gets paid in hugs and kisses.