The Torture of Chores

Here we are, the end of April. What happened to my new plan to blog? Oh yeah, totally forgotten amongst all the other stuff of life! Well, I'm good. Kids are all good. Husband is good. Life is... good? Of course it is! This is The Land Of Jen, people!!

You know, baby books make it seem like the earlier years are the hardest. School aged kids are tough,man! Luckily I have a good bunch. They are all smart, nice and (most of the time) moderately well behaved.

BUT, Like many American kids- ours our spoiled. We have a constant battle against the entitlement in younger people today. To wager against that, we feel like making our kids do chores and be responsible for their actions are good ways to help them learn to not grow up expecting the world delivered to you on a silver platter.

According to my little darlings, other kids get to do whatever they want and their moms do all the chores while they just get to sit around on their butts. According to them we are hard, hard, hard-assed parents! I mean- we're really awful:

We make them save their money for things they really want!
We shop sales racks (unheard of, apparently, in other moms of teenagers)
We make them go to bed at the same time every night!
We make them do things "as a family"!!
And, heaven forbid, We make them do chores!!!

Here is the torture enducing chore chart:

**Chores and homework are done before any TV/phones/computers/ipods**
Jake- takes the daily trash out, feeds and waters the dog, empties the dishwasher and helps bring up laundry.
Ike- takes the big cans out weekly, lets the dog out, loads the dishwasher and helps bring up laundry.
Kayla- helps with dinner, sets/clears the table and keeps laundry going.

Seriously, I thought they were going to report us to CPS enforcing slave labor.

We've always had a chore chart, completion has been spotty, with no real consequence for not doing it (there I go, adding to the problem!!) But, now- they are supposed to do their chores without being reminded. If they dont do their chore, they can receive a consequence to be determined by one of us: loss of phone/tv/ipod/computer, not going to play, going to bed early, or extra chores.

So far, the boys have lost tv for one night and it took Kayla 2 nights to get her phone back. Hard assed- yep, thats me.

Well anyways... we are down to using tissues for TP, so off to the store I go!

Have a good weekend!