chores

Chores
I have been thinking and trying to remember how I got where I am on chores with ;my children lately. I think I have it figured out.
I make a list of all the chores I want done every day: dishes, laundry, pick up each room, take the trash out, for example.I break them down into smaller mini-chores: gather up the dirty laundry, put a load in the washer, move a load from the washer to the dryer, move a load from the dryer into the individual baskets they belong in, put the baskets of laundry up, for example. Then, as suggested in Managers of Their Homes, I assign a minimum age of child able to do them to each chore and how long it would take me to do the same chore. Next, I begin at the youngest and assign enough chores to cover about an hour (factoring in that a chore that takes me ten minutes may take a three year old thirty.) I keep it to around one chore per year of age.
What this means is that my almost-four-year-old makes her own bed, puts her own laundry in her under bed-clothes boxes (not folded, but hey, that's what permanent press is for, right?), cleans her room (with some help from mom) and dumps all the little trash cans into the big one. My fifteen year old does the dishes (rinse, load dishwasher, wash the big stuff, put up the cleans, and wash the counters and stove), as well as some garden and pet chores she asked for. I know those dish chores don't add up to 15, but in a family this size that is close enough. She works at least as long as everyone else.
With six out of seven children now old enough for chores, this means that my load is greatly eased while the children still only do an hours worth of work. They are learning housekeeping skills as well as a work ethic and I can do things like change fish water, clean under furniture, and clean the fridge that used to didn't get done (good thing goldfish like dirty water!).