Chores = Fight with 7 yr old ..... OR Do they?

Everyone has a different school of thought on rewarding kids for chores.

In our family we reward for chores... but only some chores. For the last couple years I've been paying M a quarter ($0.25) per task that I think of on the fly unless it was a difficult task and then it was rewarded accordingly! She'd fill her piggy bank, and when she had enough money to buy the item she wanted (+ at least 1/4 of the amount extra for the bank) - I'd convert the change into bills... and off to the store we'd go (and the bank to make a deposit!) A bit of a pain, but it taught concepts of money, earning, saving and portioning the money! The problem was if she wasn't in the mood to do the chores they didn't get done, and she didn't have a ready list of all the things she needed to do.

So in rolls the homeschool loops that I visit - recently one of them posted a link to a website called HandiPoints. You can set up a list of up to 35 chores for your child to do and a set of rewards that they might want to earn and how much they have to earn in order to get their reward. Our chores are still a quarter a piece (unless I say otherwise!)

Well, M has been working her little bootie off - saving for a new webkinz ('cause mean ole mummy isn't buying her anymore) , an American Girl Dolly (Mia, I think though she loves Felicity) and a Petting Zoo crab (which isn't available anymore though the babies are!)

So needless to say I'm putting in a little plug for this free website - which is helping me to help them to realize that the toys and things they like have a cost, that they have the freedom to earn what they want and help around the house too!! :)

For once my house is mostly guest ready for the guests arriving today! ..... now if I could just declutter a little at a time over the next little while and organize well... I'd be doing wonderfully!