Chores

We've slacked off recently on getting the girls to do their chores. Last Saturday I realized that Nate and I cleaned the whole house while they did nothing but play all day! So on Sunday we sat down as a family and agreed on what the girls were going to have to do each day around the house. The girls helped set the consequences of what would happen if they didn't get them done, and they decided on a few rewards they could choose from if they go all week getting everything done. So yesterday was the first day putting the new plan into action, and Hannah happily collected and took out all of the trash. Nikki's job was to vacuum, which she is proud of herself for being able to do because Hannah still says she is scared of the vacuum (something she's going to have to get over this week because she's going to have to do it). Nikki got the vacuum out, and the poor thing vacuumed over a toy ring that made a terrible sound as it got sucked up. It scared her to pieces, and she didn't want to finish so she said, "Mom can I just do two chores tomorrow?" I know it really freaked her out, so I might have given in to her except I can't ever give in to this child. If I do, I will never get anything but whining and begging out of her over it for the next several months. I've learned that the hard way. So, I had to be a mean mom and make her finish it. She got lucky though because Nate got home from work early and went with her to do it. Over the sound of the vacuum I even heard her say, "Daddy, this is fun!"