whistle while you work

Why in the world am I showing you a photo of my floor? What, you don't drool over photos of floors? Well, you see this guy?

Isn't he handsome? Well, that handsome little fella can now mop that floor. Yep. And this is one happy mama. Not that I don't find great pleasure in mopping, mind you, it is just that I want him to experience the joy. And actually, so far, he is pretty excited about it. Who would have thought?

And, do you see this girl?

Well, apparently her brother is making mopping look so fun, that she is begging to get in on the action! She already gets to clean the sinks and thinks it is the greatest thing ever.

I am not kidding, folks. My children are enjoying chores! I have tried a couple of different methods with them, but the one that works the best for them (and me) is this free site. I can type in all the chores, how often they need to be done (the options are almost endless) and who can do them (I even include us parents). Each week the site generates a chore chart broken down by day and person.

It is so great to have it broken down for all of us. The kids love to see what they have to do each day and they {mostly} don't complain about it. The funny thing is that after using this system for a couple of weeks, I found that the house stays relatively clean because we all are staying on top of things, even mundane things like wiping down appliances.

As much as I love being able to share the housekeeping load, I am even more excited about what our children are learning. Not only are they learning skills that will serve them well in life, but they are also learning about responsibility (both individual and shared) and I really believe they are building self-confidence. I mean, you should see how proud they are when they finish what they consider a tough task. So, while I am enjoy watching the children learn and grow, I can also admire my gleaming floors.