As for me and my house, we will do the chores

2017 started off a little bumpy for me. I can't put my finger on the exact reason why, but I can generally slap my hand down to find a myriad of reasons.

One of those many reasons 2017 started off shaky was we had become busier. Evan was moved up to Rock 102 AND he started basketball. It's only church rec league, but those 2 things alone immediately take up 4 of our 7 day week. Third grade has also provided us with more opportunities to advance our study skills (that was worded so nicely....). So basically, when we already don't get home until after 5:30pm, and then try to squeeze evening practices and rehearsals on top of having to actually study, things get a little hairy and momma gets a little stressed.

And NEXT month, I will have BOTH children in sports at the same time. Baseball season is upon us! So I started looking for ways to lessen that stress now.

I have mentioned before, but I constantly look to the mommas in my life who have most recently survived visited this phase I am in. I was chatting with one about chores. Up until now, chores have always been done because you are a part of this family. You put your plate in the dishwasher after dinner. You picked up your toys. Dirty clothes always go in the basket. Little things like that. But that was not enough.

So, we started real life, you get paid, you do these things every week, kind of chores.

I had seen the meme so many times 'If you child can learn how to use an iPad, they can learn how to use a washing machine.' I would roll my eyes and say "as soon as apple makes a touch screen washing machine that can fit in their hands, sure thing."

BUT...

I get what it meant.

So, as soon as I figured out Evan was tall enough, I started training him to do his own laundry. From taking it out of the basket, carrying it downstairs, setting, loading and starting the machine, switching it to the dryer, folding AND putting it away. The first time we did this, it was SO much work on me and took all day. And the folding...it looked like someone with two hooks for hands folded his laundry. But hey, he did it and it was done.

This week was the third week he's done it by himself and it was GLORIOUS! The effort we put into getting him ready to be independent was worth it!

He also takes the recycling to the bin, unloads the dishwasher each time it's clean, and cleans his fish tank.

These four chores earn him a whopping $3-4 a week and have decreased my stress level. That alone is probably worth 10 times that, but don't tell him that.

He's seen his money start to add up. The smart entrepreneur has started asking for more chores. We'll keep adding to the list, slowly but surely.