Rules/Chore Charts...Where Do You Keep These Things?

I have a rule chart on the back of the front door. My kids have lots of friends over, and the rules apply to all the kids who come in the house. If a kid is coming over for the first time I will go over the house rules with them. My kids chore lists are on the back of their bedroom door. I don't do stickers or anything. I just refer to the lists when I ask if they are done everything they need to get done.

I gave up on all such charts many moons ago. It was too much work for ME to keep it all straight.

If you can't figure out a good solution, or the chore chart idea just doesn't work for you, don't be afraid to figure out something else that does work/fit your family.

Our house is not spotless, and you can't eat off the floor. But it is clean enough to invite someone in to sit down and visit. There are clean sheets on the guest bed. And the kids know how and do help around the house. Some things they have just learned over the years are "their job" and others I (or Dad) asks them to "go _______" or "come help _____" and they do.

Frankly, I am not in the military, and I don't want my kids to feel like they are either. If they decide to join up when they are older, they can. But for now, we have easier regs around our house.

As for rules, ummm... the most practical ones are the kind that you can't make specific enough. "If you open it, close it; if you empty it, refill it" kinda stuff. They know these things, but "put a new roll of toilet paper on the roller" just doesn't translate that well, when you are in a different room from "the rules". It's the kind of thing you learn from finding yourself on the toilet with no toilet paper.

why can't the whole world see it? we keep ours on the fridge. i have no problem with people seeing we have rules that we follow and chores that we do...i know i'm doing the right thing, i'm proud of it. not sure where else you'd put it - inside the pantry door maybe?

- Where posted: Side of the fridge / hallway between kitchen and bathroom

- How I made it: Table in a word processing software. Laminated at Kinkos/FedEx. Each of us gets our own. As chores get done, they get checked off. A dash if they're done with bad attitude or slipshod (he gets a bonus at the end of the week for doing his chores with good attitude/ well).

- Who decided: My son and I. My husband was never around / never did any chores. We tried to involve him periodically, and he was completely disinterested. Now that bozo is out of the picture, it's just my son and I. While my son contributes (I'd rather he have his FAVORITE chores as the majority of them), I have trump.

Yes the family should all have buy in. One of the first things the elementary school principal does at the beginning of the year is meet with all the kids to write a Constitution. It ends up being the same ideas every year, but when the kids have had a voice in creating the rules, they take pride and ownership in them and are more likely to follow them and hold each other accountable to them.

Same thing with chores - let them help brainstorm what needs to be done around the house (you might be surprised by what they think is important), lead them to the things you know they missed, then discuss as a family who can and should do what and when. Heck there are many spouses who should be part of this conversation because they have no idea what goes into running a household or, say, maintaining the yard. Make sure there is some balance, but let them volunteer for the things they may be interested in or good at and then assign the rest evenly.

I would put these in the kitchen. We have a painted section of our kitchen wall that reads "Command Central" over it that contains our calendar, chore chart, routines and menu.

rules and chores are posted in the kitchen under the calendar. I have done several different methods with chores. I used to have "room of the day" chores and each kid was responsible for that room that day, we kept with that on an assigned schedule for awhile. Then we got to roll dice and each number was assigned a room but our schedule is just too busy to leave it up to chance and some rooms are more difficult and time consuming than others.
I made a list of things that needed done every day, 3 times a week, once a week etc. Then assigned chores according to time and schedule of each child. For example on tuesdays and thursdays my son always had cross country meets so he wasnt home until 830-9pm. Well be the time dinner homework shower was done he didnt have time for chores. So the only chore he did on "meet" days we called them was take out the trash which takes 30 seconds. Because the girls are also involved in activities they have busy nights too so when he has more free time then they do- he has to "make up" for them covering his chores on "meet days" so he has more then. I always expected each kid to be able to do all the chores. Ofcourse i expected it done better by my son who is oldest but as time went on i realized who was the best at what job and what jobs would be a fight to get each kid to do. However just because my youngest is the best at cleaning the bathroom doesnt mean she only does that or she is the only one to do it. I keep it fair by making each kid do each chore the same number of times each week.Every kid (7,9,14) takes out the trash, unloads the dishwasher, dusts, vacuums, puts their own laundry away, cleans the bathroom, uses the swiffer on the floors,straightens up the entry way, picks up a designated room, etc. I used to let them have "free days" on weekends but by monday the house would be a disaster so that doesnt happen anymore they have at least one chore every day. Hope this helps!

Our DD isn't old enough for set chores, besides helping clean up, but when I was growing up it was rotating chores. One week was dishes/clean the kitchen, one week was laundry, one week was bathrooms, one week was living room, that sort of thing. Then we switched on Sundays. I like it because if it's a chore you hate, you don't have to be in charge of it all the time, except for cleaning your room/making your bed which is always your chore. (I still hate making my bed and rarely do it) But you learn how to do everything.

And we use a dry erase board on the fridge now to remember stuff, but it's not rules or anything. We've never had them written down.

I would think the best place would be in the kitchen. It would depend on the layout of your house. If you don't want in the kitchen, you could make a separate chart for each person and post it in the bedrooms. Does your house have 2 floors with a down stairs bathroom and one upstairs used by family only. You could post it there.

We never had an official "chore chart" but I did try posting something on the kitchen wall, using stickers on a calendar as rewards. At the end of the month there would be a special treat. It didn't work.

Hubby and I decide what chore each child does. We take into consideration, a childs personality, age, capibilities, time constraints. Some chores like vacumming rotate. Of course, everything is open for discussion.