Responsibility Station

"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day.  Teach him how to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime." 


I've gone through a few systems in my parenting days that have failed.  Either they didn't work for Tyler, or I just never followed through with them.  I've been on the search for something that would work for Tyler--not only to show him responsibility but to help him understand the concept of chores vs. paid work.  There is a difference.  We believe that chores are expected and do not receive payment.  However, Tyler's at the age where he can earn money by doing extra jobs around the house so we wanted to incorporate that into a system.

For example, Tyler's expected daily chores are:  1)  Put your dirty clothes into the laundry room, 2) Put your dirty dishes in the sink or trash can, 3) When coming home from school, hang your bookbag and put the ice pack in the freezer, and 4) Make sure your room is clean at the end of the day.  This is in addition to the other activities that he knows to do such as homework, brushing teeth, etc.  We've made these reasonable because our days are hectic enough, and we didn't want to make this stressful or unrealistic. 

Tyler can choose chore sticks whenever he wants as long as his daily chores are done.  Each day has one star to indicate a chore stick option. We do not make him do them nor do we even mention it.  It's up to him.  When he chooses a stick, he performs the task independently, or if it's the first time, I show him how to do it.  When he's done, he writes his "commission" (notice it doesn't say "allowance") on his board.  He gets 50 cents per chore and can do one chore a day for a possible commission of $3.00 a week.  Just like you and I fill out a paycheck, he does as well.  On Sundays, we don't do chores (Mommy still does!)  Instead, it's pay day.

I like this system for many reasons.  It teaches Tyler how to earn money and even how to manage it.  There are three pouches for his money--"give it", "save it", and "spend it".  Right now, we are focusing on the "give it" and "save it" pouches.  Ultimately, the "save it" pouch is for "New Jersey". :)

 We just had our first "pay day" today.  Tyler chose to do two chores this week, so he earned $1.00.  However, he decided to fill his paycheck out with $3.00.  Smart man ;)  However, we explained that he can't fill it out incorrectly and that mommy and daddy would get in trouble if we did this at work.

I purchased this system from Fisherkids.  I loved the concept and the fact that it teaches kids to live independently.  Tyler has enjoyed having some control over what he does to earn money, and I think now that he knows he can make more than $1.00 we might see more chores done around the house! ;)