Chore System

I began a new chore system this past weekend. It's been a bit chaotic and messy around here lately when it comes to the kids and chores. I didn't give my son his allowance for 2 weeks because he slacked on his chores. I found myself harping on both kids and begging them to please do the things I expected them to do. So Saturday afternoon I sat down with the craft sticks, paint, a Sharpie and some glass jars. Here's how it works:

Each stick is assigned a chore and a monetary value. Many of them are worth $.10 each. That is for mainly the daily chores. So DS's daily chore sticks are painted red and DD's are painted pink. That way I know who made their bed and who didn't.
The other chores are either once a week or 2x a week. They are painted green and worth $.25 or there is one, vacuuming the carpet, that is painted yellow and worth $.50.
Once a chore is completed, such as taking out the recycling or making a bed, the child takes a stick with that chore written on it and puts it in the "completed" jar. At the end of the week, I will go through the completed jar and pay them each what their sticks add up to.
Now it is in my children's control over what they earn. DD so far is motivated to just move the sticks to the completed jar. DS is motivated by the money.
Since some chores I no longer consider "chores" for them, like clearing their dishes from the table, I didn't do sticks for those. Sure, when they were 3 & 4, that was on the chore chart but now at their ages, it's just expected. I added a few new chores to DS's weekly list as well. He's older now and I wanted to be able to give him a raise but not for nothing. He will have to earn it. So I added that he needs to empty the upstairs trash baskets once a week and he needs to wipe down their bathroom counter once a week. I'm hoping that last one will get him to understand why I hate it when they make such a mess with the toothpaste and mouth rinse!

I'll keep you all posted on how it's going. I think starting it before school begins will give them both time to get into a groove of completing their chores and earning the money before they need to worry about a school routine. So far, because it's new, it's going well. I'm sure some of the newness will wear off over time and I may have to revamp some things. But for now, yay on DD getting up and making her bed and cleaning her room right away! Yay on them both being motivated to clean up the playroom and keep things neat!