Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Workin' on Commission

"I don't know - how do we motivate him but still hold up to expectations we have on him contributing to the family and caring for the home?" I asked, slightly in wonder as I considered my gifts to the home have been severely lacking since bringing two little boys home.

Recently, Big L had come to us requesting a Nerf gun, and this time, instead of caving on a Target run, we decided it was time to implement a plan. We dug back into our archives of Dave Ramsey days and landed on:

Commission based pay.

Yep - that's right. These two parents who let their children draw on the walls are getting' real.

After input from a few friends and a quick dive into Pinterest, we threw out three mason jars and marked them Save, Spend and Give. Each week, Big L has the option of completing his chores or not and whatever level he desires. From there, we as his supervisors (ha), determine how well he did, considering if he completed them daily and the quality of work. From there, he has the chance to earn up to five dollars a week. His current chores include: make his bed, feed the pets, pick up all toys, put clothes in hamper, clear the table and put shoes on rug. There are other expectations of him, but these we chose because they are the most consistent in the workflow of our home (hello - how many times do you run about the house in the a.m. cursing for those shoes?!). To chart, we landed on this:

A simple, customized printout we can slap on his closet door weekly and he can proudly mark with Crayola.

Each week he's required to put some in each jar of Save, Spend or Give. As you can imagine, the spend one tends to fill up a bit faster than the others. So far he's motivated by this, is having fun and feels proud of how he's giving back to his family and plays a part in it all.

Here's hoping it sticks -and that we can keep up with the commission!

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