Chores and Housekeeping Schedules

We have finally hit on a chore system that works for us. We have used it for about 2 years now and I plan to continue it.I made a “chore chart” placed it in a page protector and hung it on a nail in the kitchen. Even my chores are on it. That way there is no excuse for the work not being done.

My older 2 boys are 8 and 11. They will do a set of chores for about 6 months and then they switch. That way there is no arguing about who has the harder chores. Everyone will get them eventually. The baby doesn’t have chores, YET.

Here is the list for this cycle:
8 yr. old
Daily - scoop litter box, feed animals, make bed, pick up bedroom
M and Sat. - vaccum living room
M - wipe down large appliances
M, T, W, Sat. - put away laundry
T - wipe down light switches
W - wipe down bath tub

11 yr. old
Daily - fetch mail, make bed, pick up bedroom, pick up bathroom, pick up living room, kitchen, hallway floors
M, T, W, Sat. put away laundry
M - clean appliances
T - dust
W - wipe down bath tub

Mom
Daily - lunch, clean-up kitchen, supper, clean-up kitchen
M - bathrooms
T dust/vaccum living room
W - focus on kitchen and dining room (clean/mop)
Sat. - organize desk, sort school stuff, garden
M, T, W, Sat - laundry

I don’t do extra chores on Thurs. and Fri because dh is home those days. The boys do their chores 6 days a week, after school and before lunch. It takes them about 30 mins. They are paid 75 cents a day for this. Large lawn/garden jobs are paid extra by my dh.

I work off a to-do list every day. If it is Monday, on my to-do list will be whatever jobs I want to accomplish in the bathrooms (wash floors, scrub shower, clean cabinets, etc.). General pick-up is done every week but the other jobs are done on an “as needed” basis and are added to my to-do list accordingly. Also, larger jobs like washing windows, clean my bedroom, decluttering closets, cleaning the laundry room, etc. are added to my to-do list as I decide they need done. I work them in through out the week. If nothing but the bare bones is done then the house stays in relatively good shape.

This seems to work for us. I love seeing what works for everyone else.