The Quarter Jar

A few months ago I was quite frustrated with my children. It seemed I needed to spell out every chore that needed to be done. And when I gave a chore, they made sure they did that specific thing and NO EXTRA. How on earth were they going to ever have their own home if they needed some one to tell them to keep after their own mess.

I know, I know, there are all those fancy chore charts and we did have those for awhile, but I think I'm the one with the ADD . I can remember to check up on people for just so long, then I get side-tracked. 

So- since my goal in teaching my children is to someday be productive citizens. People who will follow God's laws and other laws, because they want to, not because someone is watching over them and making sure they obey them. I also hope to have responsible children who will be appreciated by their future husbands or wives for their thoughtfulness and ability to notice when the trash needs emptied. I know two of ours are married and I'm hoping their wives didn't need to do too much training.

In an effort to encourage this wonderful behavior of "helpfulness without prompting" (I wish I had a catchier name for it) I made a quarter jar. I went to the bank for a roll of quarters. I think it costs $10 and I shook those shiny quarters in front of their noses saying "one of these will be yours every time you do a job without being prompted."

I needed to add a few rules. The quarters were not for doing someone else's job. They were not to be claimed for regularly scheduled jobs like dishes and clearing the table after meals.

They had to be claimed immediately after the job was done, so I could notice and check....none of this claiming $2 at bedtime.

I did my best not to assign the extra jobs unless people were practically tripping over it and ignoring it.It was interesting who made the most money. Some people thought they were too elite to stoop to doing jobs for a quarter, but we merrily ignored them. 

It took about 2 months to use up the quarters and I decided not to replenish the jar right away.

I wasn't sure I had accomplished anything, anyway.

Then about two months after the experiment I suddenly noticed that Hope and Faith had started taking turns washing the dishes..get this...

WITHOUT MY INSTRUCTIONS and

WITHOUT ARGUMENT!

That realization was worth more than $10.

(our dishwasher has been on the blink for about 3 months and I asked hubby to not replace it yet)

I just finished up this girl's five-year-Post-Placement report.

Sunday I got this note from her even before she tasted the soup.

She has taken up crocheting...you can't really see too well, but the hook is  inserted in 

a block of styrofoam and she tucks it under her arm.

So far she has just made a long chain, but give her time...she's only seven.

This bunch (me included) got hungry for real french fries the other day.

Then I made some on Sunday evening, but those potatoes didn't "chip" well.

Gotta find someone that hasn't chilled their potatoes- don't the grocery stores know better?

QOTD: The joys of language: after a civics lesson, one of my children asked, "what's the difference between persecute and prosecute... Isn't one of them an immoral woman? O wait that's...pros...!"