Moving on to Month 3 of The Experiment

October is done, and the boys were successful in making meals and cleaning up. I really love this experiment...taking it ONE THING AT A TIME. I have to say it works so much better than making a huge chore chart, and me trying to keep track of who did what...and nagging them to get their chores done. They feel more capable, and they see (or don't see) the reward at the end of the month.
They do not make their beds every day (Zach lost 7 coins this month), and they complain when it is their turn to clean up the dishes (everyone loves to cook..but the cleaning up is always tough). Hey, they are kids. I don't expect them to be perfect, or act happy about doing the dishes. Even I don't like doing the dishes! But, the success comes when the boys say, "It is my turn to cook tonight, and this is what we are having..."

November, we are going to tackle laundry. At first, we thought we would give each kid their own day, but it will be difficult for Tyler and Luke (who share a room) to sort out clothes, etc..and we can see potential problems with that. So, instead, I will show each boy how to do the laundry (from beginning to end, both machines)...and then they are responsible for taking their own clothes from the clean/dry pile, folding them and putting them away (on the days I do laundry...usually Wed and Sat). If they don't do their own clothes, I take 2 coins.

So, today...the laundry is done...I ask everyone to come to our bedroom (because that is where the clean laundry goes in our home...on our bed!). I explain the challenge for the month, and say we can do this one all together. So, each person attacks the pile...Luke many times scampering over the top of the clean clothes...and we each pick out what is ours. We have a quick lesson on tucking things right side out, and at least folding the piece of clothing in half, and then everyone races to put the clothes in the right spot in their own bedroom. Laundry done. So fast. So fun.

Zach has already figured out that if he waits until everyone else is done, he can just take the rest (which will most likely be all his) and be done.