“Chores” that word evokes dread, especially when it comes from mom. For a big family in a big house there are certainly plenty of chores to go around at CCM. These tasks are an essential teaching component and a wonderful way for our family to bond by taking care of each other, but can none-the-less be dreaded and resisted. Every family approaches chores differently. One common strategy is to make a chart and each child is assigned a task to complete according to their ability. We have a few of these at our house.
When the filtered water jug is empty its Job’s job to take it off and put on a fresh one, the perfect job for a strong young man like Job.
Its Richardson’s job to take the trash out to the trash house whenever the bag is full, and its Winzor’s job to clean up the yard and feed the dogs before school in the morning. So we definitely have a few jobs like this. Then there are other chores, the daily ones that everyone can do, what we call the after-dinner chores. We like to play a little game call chore roulette with these! We have dinner together almost every night of the week, and at the end of dinner we put all the after-dinner chores, written on paper, in a cup and add one “Free Ticket” to the lottery mix. The first one done with dinner gets to draw from the cup first. Everyone is vying for the “Free Ticket”, so this is also a helpful incentive to speed along those super slow eaters. One by one the kids each pull their paper from the cup and open it up hoping for “Free Ticket” but if not “Put Away Left Overs” is a close runner up. Sometimes they moan when they open their paper to read “Mop” or the ever unpopular “Put Away Dishes”, but often times it is treated more as a game than as a dreadful task.
As an added incentive if they get their job done, tidy their room, and put pajamas on fast enough they can have free time for video games until everyone has finished and it’s time for devotions.
“For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” Romans 12:4-5
