Chores

Giving chores to my kids has been quite the chore for myself over the years.  I want my kids to be responsible and have tried chore charts and just telling the kids what their job is when the time comes, but, overall, it's been a frustration.  I would get frustrated when I would constantly have to remind them to do their jobs, even though it was posted.  And I would cringe when I'd hear "but I did it last time" or "I don't want to"or "I hate doing silverware" and on and on.  And even then, passing chores on to the kids usually means that I might need to redo the job to meet my standard (which isn't very high).  So this summer we tried something new.  In the mornings before we went and did something fun and/or in the evenings before we had our treat, I would make a list of about 5 jobs for Ogden to do and 5 jobs for Kaelyn to do.  They usually included things like washing a dirty window, putting 3 pairs of shoes away, wiping down appliances, unloading the dishwasher, etc.  It seems to be working pretty well, especially for Ogden.  I think Ogden likes to see that there is an end to his list and that once he's done, he's done.  Kaelyn is not as big of a fan.  She still does it, but she can take FOREVER.  So it's not a perfect plan, but it's been a much better fit for our family.  Plus, I like that it's so flexible.  I can just look around the house and see what needs to be done, and then add it to their jobs.  Some days the appliances need wiped down and sometimes I need help folding towels.  Ideally, it might be nice to do something like this with a little bit of tweeking, but for now, I'm liking our system.  Have you had any success with chores?  Always looking for better ways.