Chore Boards

 
I know many people implement chore charts to help with family management. Our guys have chores but we've never codified them into a document before. We hit our limit on an issue, so we finally did. We've been awoken by screaming 6 days out of 7 for weeks on end. I haven't read the Geneva Conventions but it sure feels like it would qualify as cruel and unusual punishment. It definitely sets a bad tone for the day even if it's not technically torture.

The screaming involves the morning routine. Someone feels they should control someone else and that someone resists with every fiber in their vocal cords. They both do it, I can't pin it exclusively on either one. Since I try to solve problems with actions, I made chore boards. I was hoping that by giving them something of their own to focus on, they'd stop picking at each other. So far this week it's been great. Four mornings in a row with no screaming - which has become so rare, it's memorable even if the record doesn't hold.

The basis for the idea was all the menu planning boards I've seen on the craft blogs. I thought magnetic boards would be very versatile, easy for younger Toad to use, and easy to create. However, for the life of me, I couldn't find non-Teflon cookie sheets. I went to four stores and then gave up. I think if I wasn't in a hurry I could have found the old steel ones at the thrift store so I'll have to keep looking. Mother Earth News has been running articles about the dangers of Teflon coated light bulbs in chicken coops. I thought if that could kill a chicken in a night it shouldn't be in my kid's room.

Since plan A was nixed I went with stuff I had around. The clothespins came off my laundry line, the wood was left over from art class sculptures (post here), the paper and shells were from my scrapbooking supplies. I always have contact paper around for laminating. Grand total the project cost $.57 for the little train. They took about three hours to do including formatting the chart on the computer, laminating the cards, and painting the clothespins. It was more time consuming to do two different versions, including pictures for the pre-reader but I didn't want the yelling to change into “No that one is mine.”

It would have been easier to print something out on the computer and post it on the fridge; but I've created little craft monsters and knew they would need more inspiration if the boards were going to get used. When younger Toad saw his board, he was really excited and showed it to Grandpa first thing. I smiled since I thought that meant I might actually be on to something.

The feedback from the Toads has been positive and they've asked why don't we have one for night time routine too. Nightime routine could always be smoother so, as soon as I can come up with some cookie sheets, I'll be redoing the boards with magnets.

I broke down and am going to try to learn to love Pinterest.  I love looking at other people's boards but felt like if I did my own I was just setting myself up for more work.  So as a trial, I'll see if it keeps me organized.  I set up a Pinterest board for this project here which shows the two versions of this project I used for inspiration and the two I created.

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