Tackling Chores? "Stick" to it!

I don't know about your family, but mine has always struggled about having a good attitude about doing chores. As I transitioned into a single-parent household I knew I would not survive with zero help, so I decided to come up with a system that would work. Imagine my delight when after I explained to my teens how the system works, they literally jumped up and started cleaning! No kidding! I told my friends on Facebook and everyone begged me to share my system, so here goes:

Here are the supplies I bought. You might already have some of these. I had the markers.

1. Tongue depressors: https://amzn.to/315GFS1
2. Tokens pack with different colors: https://amzn.to/2LUDNnF 
3. An organizer:  https://amzn.to/2SYVOBX
4. A cash box (I got mine at Walgreens): https://amzn.to/2yt2ZbL
5. Colored markers: https://amzn.to/32WrwUO 
6. An ultra fine black Sharpie: https://amzn.to/3113q9z  

So, here's what I did. I wrote A, B, C, or D on the top of both sides of some of the tongue depressors using a different color for each. I decided the As would be for chores that I thought would take 10 minutes, Bs - 15 minutes, Cs - 20 minutes, and Ds - 30 minutes. Because my kids are teens I decided the rewards I would assign to these levels would be money, but you could use anything you think your kids would value like stickers, minutes of screen time, stamps, kisses, whatever you like. My system was As = $0.25, Bs = $0.50, Cs = $0.75, and Ds = $1. Then I assigned token colors and to each letter. Ideally token and pen colors would be the same, so if you can find some that match that would be great! I could not.

With the ultra fine point Sharpie, I then wrote a chore on both sides of the stick labeled with a letter according to how much time I thought it would take and how much I was willing to pay. Some chores I only wanted kids to get credit for doing once per day, on those I put a day of the week too. For example, one of my chores is pick up all the dog toys (my dog is a nut who gets out many toys). I only wanted that done once per day, but daily, so I made those sticks with a day. That way, kids have to do it daily if they want more money. Some sticks I didn't care what day they did it, but I wanted it done twice per week, so I only made two of those sticks. If they want more money, they have to do another chore if it has already been done twice. Lastly, some sticks have a location, like wipe the sink in shared bathroom or the guest lav. That way both sinks get wiped and not just the one on the first floor.

Here is what my sticks look like:

I put all the sticks in an organizer by type, like this:

In the middle I have blank sticks and a cheat sheet that tells me which token goes with which stick and how much money it is worth. I decided to use tokens so I don't have to keep a ton of cash on hand and so I can always "pay" the kids at a moment's notice. Typically, I let the kids turn in tokens for cash on Fridays, but you could let them get rewards as they go, like for screen time.

Now the kids do chores and then take the appropriate stick and put it in their slot in the organizer, or wherever they want. My son keeps his in a little basket from Dollar Tree. The best part is no more nagging! My son does chores without being asked at all. With my daughter (the more resistant of the two) I just ask if she is earning any stick money this week. Sometimes she does want to and sometimes not, but I have noticed if her brother is racking up the tokens, she will decide she needs to get some too. About once per month I take the kids to the mall and let them run around and spend their money while I work in the food court.

What I like about this system is it is a micro-economy and teaches the kids about rewards for their labor, planning ahead, and doing commerce. When I told the kids that doing stick work added up to about $2/hr my daughter said, "Well minimum wage is like $15 per hour!" I said I could only afford $2. And that was that. Econ 101. LOL Anyway, I really enjoy the fact that I made these sticks one time and now I just enjoy their labor with no fighting or nagging. I hope it helps you too!