Ever hopeful (and desperate), I spent some time this weekend creating a new chore chart for our family of 7. I have a difficult time picturing exactly what I want in a spreadsheet, but the internet is a wealth if information. I found several templates for Excel. None of them worked exactly for our family and what I had in mind, but it did give me a starting point. Unfortunately any type of computer work like this brings out the perfectionist in me, and I end up agonizing and spending WAY too much time making sure each square and line and title is EXACTLY the way I want it.
Thankfully it was a rainy, grey Saturday and working on the computer was a pleasant way to spend some of the afternoon. Especially when the end result was going to be a CLEAN house and less stress for me.
Here is a link to my chart. It covers the three meals of the day (with work listed for each meal) and four of the main areas of the downstairs (again with the work responsibilities detailed). I left blanks for people to fill in their names. In the past I have assigned jobs, or given the kids’ input on how to divide things out. We’ve broken up things by week or day. This time I decided to let them just pick the jobs they want and let things fall in place as best as possible.
Actually I asked Tim to help me in getting the kids signed up. So wonderful to have support from DAD on these type of things. Tim, inspired by our new game, Stone Age, had the kids take turns filling out different jobs. Each person chose two or three spots and then passed the charts to their younger sibling.
Joshua, as the oldest, most busy and nearly 18 (tomorrow) was given the opportunity to select all of his jobs at one time.
Chore Chart 2011 for those with older versions of Excel
Feel free to steal this chart and use it as you wish. It doesn’t have any personal info on it, just the basics.
Kathy
THANK you for posting this…….I was going to ask you for it on your facebook…..glad to see you blogged about it instead
I was going to ask how you decide who gets to pick first! How often will it rotate? Will the picking order change next time?
Liz — Well, we let Joshua pick first because he (as an 18-year-old) is not REQUIRED to do these particular chores, but may elect to do so voluntarily (which he did). Then we let each of the kids take 2 slots in decreasing age order (age has its privileges, after all), repeating with 3, and then 4 slots until they were all gone. I liked the idea of letting the older (and presumably busier) kids target the times when they could more easily afford to do chores.
All three of the older kids ended up taking more slots than was their ‘fair share’, which made me proud — so much so that I was caught up in the enthusiasm and took two slots myself (I rarely do these kind of chores)!
Tim
I can’t open your speadsheet, because of Mac issuse, but I want to see your family’s chart. Can you take a picture of it?
It’s late, I can’t sleep, and I can’t spell. Me want see you chart on picture.
I copied your spreadsheet – now to get home and use it. LOL
I love this, Kathy! Thank you for sharing it. I am adapting it for our family right now. I appreciate all your effort and time on this, it is saving me lots of work. And it is prettier than mine would be!