Blogging resolutions for 2015

Better late than never, I hear you say.

What with it being a brand new year and all that jazz, I felt it was time I pulled my blogger's socks up.

With just a little bit of effort, I think this wee blog could be sooooo much better. Here's what I propose to do about it...

1. Get on with writing my own posts instead of wistfully re-reading Mumsnet's 'blog of the day' and despairing of ever writing anything half as good.

2. Write less of the long rambling posts. And more of the short, easy-to-read ones. Promise.

3. Finally get round to uploading a photo (preferably soft focus) on the 'About Me' page.

4. Upload same soft focus photo of choice to BritMums, thus avoiding having the same standard cartoon head as several hundred other members.

5. Swallow my pride and ask my lovely neighbour and fellow blogger at Storm In A (Vintage) Teacup to explain to me how Google + actually works (blushes furiously).

6. Implement some of the great blogging and SEO advice that the talented Tarana at SandInMyToes regularly dispenses.

7. Pluck up the courage to join a few more link-ups.

8. Perhaps most importantly...Reply more promptly to the lovely comments that some of you are kind enough to leave.

Happy 2015 folks.  Did I mention that I don't really 'do' New Year's resolutions?

Do you believe in New Year's resolutions? Leave a comment and let me know.

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How to crack children's chores - part 2

In my last post, I wrote about the challenges of getting children to tackle household chores - and why it's something I feel we have to at least try to crack here at Average Towers.

This time round, I promise to get down to the nitty gritty of our new(ish) system and how it is (sort of) working for us. Before I do so though, here's one of my all-too-familiar disclaimers: I genuinely don't want to put our system across as a one-size-fits-all solution.  What works for us may not necessarily work for you. There are many, many variables that will affect how your own family chooses to treat chores: The ages of your children, their skills/personalities and your own priorities in terms of what you feel you most need help with round the house. 

Some of what we're doing might not feel right for your family. The chores I list might seem like "givens" in your household. Others might feel far too tough.  And that is absolutely fine.  I may not have spelled it out before but this blog is not here to foster comparison or competition. That way lies madness. I like to hope that it's more of an online equivalent of a chat with friends over a cup of coffee.

So, without further ado, here's what we're up to...

Our children's chores system has two parts to it: The everyday tasks and the weekend specials.

The daily chores consist of jobs that may well be expected of children younger than 10 and eight (the ages of my two) but which, rather embarrassingly, we'd let slip.  I also used the opportunity to sneak in a couple of school/learning related items like homework/reading and musical instrument practice. Maybe these shouldn't be classed as 'chores', however constantly reminding my two about these things was becoming part of my daily nag repertoire.  Now it's there in black and white instead. 

An unexpected bonus of this list is that my ageing brain no longer needs to remind each child about several different things every day. Instead I enjoy a far easier refrain: "Have you checked the chart?" Result.  

Each of my children has a copy of this list in their bedrooms. Another copy is pinned in a prominent place in the kitchen, where we tend to congregate.  

The second part of our system is our weekend chores lucky dip (renamed the unlucky dip within around two minutes by my youngest).

Based on the chore roulette game described in the wonderful We Are THAT Family blog, our lucky dip consists of six tasks, three of which must be tackled by each child.  They already have a *least favourite* (empty bins and recycling, since you asked) and we've had to invoke two additional side-rules:

1. If you don't do it properly, you do it again.

2. If you complain, you get an extra task. (Call it a bonus. Hah!)

So how are the early weeks of the new regime going? To be brutally honest, any initial enthusiasm from the younger members of the family wore off after about, say, five seconds.  I've discovered many sticky bowls post-dishwasher cycle due to questionable stacking techniques and I've had to call the little 'uns up on countless other attempted shortcuts.

"Why bother?" I hear you say. Well, here's the thing.  Now that we've entered week five, the complaints are becoming more subdued.  There is a growing realisation - dare I say acceptance - that this system is here to stay.  If we stay with it, so will they.

In the short-term I anticipate many more sticky bowls and sullen faces.

In the long-term I'll be glad I didn't give up.  Won't I?! 

How does your family tackle chores - and how do you combat resistance? Leave a comment and let me know.

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How to crack children's chores - part 1

I should probably confess right now.  The title of today's blog post is a little misleading.

That's to say - er - I'm not quite sure our average little family has cracked children's chores.  But, before you click back onto your Facebook news feed, I'd like to reassure you that we are trying.  And - whisper it - we are having limited success...

A series of recent events prompted me to take a long hard look at what my children were doing to help out round the house and what they could be doing.

A while back, in my blog post on lists, I confessed that our children's morning checklist of simple tasks was waaaayyyyy out of date.  To compound my guilt, I then came across this little grid of age-appropriate chores for children that had been doing the rounds on social media.  It would seem that my reaction was not an isolated incident.  Mothers throughout the land took to internet forums with blushing emoticons, confessing that their children didn't do half the tasks that were 'expected' of a child that age.

Back in Average Towers, my two little 'uns were both turning another year older.  And, given half the chance, they were also going to become another year lazier.  Time had marched along so quickly that, although I didn't feel all the items on that chart were exactly right for us, I had come to the uncomfortable conclusion that my kids were actually doing less than they were a couple of years ago.

So whose fault was that? It'd be really easy to blame them but, quite frankly, Mr Average and myself had to take the lion's share of the responsibility.  And why? Because the hardest part of getting children to do chores is not drawing up an attractive chart, discussing the tasks with them and demonstrating how to do it first time round.

The hardest part of getting children to do chores is to make them stick with it.  Day in and day out.  But I don't want to become a nag I hear you say!  Me neither. But what I want even less is for my child to be the one on the school trip who has no clue how to look after her own possessions.  Or for my 19-year-old to be the one in his flat-share whose untidiness grates on everyone's nerves.  

Sounds melodramatic? One thing most parents agree on is how fast the years slip away.  Starting to give children responsibility at an early stage saves them from a complete reality shock further down the line. Perhaps when someone - who loves them far less than you do - tells them exactly what they think of their organisational skills and hygiene standards...

What's more, if everyone is an active member of the household, then everyone should take responsibility for keeping that household in order.  Yes, there are some jobs that you simply can't ask a seven-year-old to tackle. But there are many, many more that you can.

I don't want this blog post to become unbearably long.  For this reason, I'm going to write it in two parts. Next time, I'll get down to the nitty gritty of what we're doing here at Average Towers and how it's working for us. 

Join me if you can?

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