Your Chores for Mine

While I was at the doctor yesterday with Baby Girl (she has tonsilitis, by the way), I was reading through a magazine and I came across a very interesting article. Anything that mentions how to get kids to do their chores easier I'm all for!

This mom said that one day as she was getting ready to leave she asked her 16-year-old son to bring the garbage cans up from the curb. She had him look her in the eye and repeat to her what he was to do.

However, upon returning home she saw that the cans were still where they were when she left. Needless to say, she was upset. She dragged them up to the house herself, mumbling under her breath the entire time. But before she barged into her son's room to get onto him she had this wonderful idea. Since she had done HIS job, he could now do one of HER jobs.

When she told him this there was nothing he could say because he knew she was right. He had been told to do something, and had even repeated what he was to do so there was no excuse for not doing it.

So he traded five minutes of bringing the garbage cans in for 20 minutes of folding laundry.

Chores had been done much more willingly in her home ever since.

Tomorrow, I think I'm going to test this out for myself!