Tag Archives: chores

I Could Use Some Chore Ideas For My 6-Year-Old Who’s Trying To Earn $30

Build-a-Bear Workshop pink bear
This is the bear my daughter wants

I need some parenting advice, please!

I am trying to figure out what ‘extra’ chores my 6-year-old daughter can do to earn extra money for a trip to Build-a-Bear Workshop to make her first bear. Most of the chores I’ve given her today; she starts then says it’s too hard.  Well, there’s another thing. I’ll be honest… a couple of the things I’ve asked her to do, I asked her to stop doing because I knew I would to have to go back and do it all over again.

Here are a few things that I’ve tried to get her to do so far today to earn money and what happened:

  • Clean the baseboards
    • Her thoughts on this chore – she apparently couldn’t rub hard enough to get the dirt off
    • My thoughts – She could if she tried harder but I didn’t want to deal with it and I didn’t want to have to go back and clean all the baseboards again so I gave up on that chore.
  • Wash spiderwebs off of the outside of the windows
    • Her thoughts on this chore – Using the hose to squirt the windows was fun
    • My thoughts – I had to help her aim at the spider webs and darn, those things are hard to squirt off with water!  It took her about 5 minutes to complete this chore, with my help.
  • Clean the front door
    • Her thoughts on this chore – “no, thanks”
    • My thoughts – “You love spraying stuff. Why don’t you want to clean the door?”
  • Dust the window sills
    • Her thoughts on this chore – fun and easy and she expected more than $1 for dusting just 3 windows (in about 2 minutes).
    • My thoughts – “Really, you’re fussing because I offered you 25¢ to dust 3 windows? in less than 2 minutes?”

 

So now I’m at a loss as to what chores to have her to do earn extra money.

Her regular chores that will not help her earn money toward a bear are:

  • Help with her laundry
  • Set and clear the table at each meal
  • Help dust
  • Make her bed
  • Clean her room
  • Help keep the kitchen clean

Do you have any suggestions for chores I can have my 6-year-old do to earn money?  She wants to earn $30.

Here is my wish list that I would pay her (or my son) really good money to do:

I have windows that need to be cleaned, dusty baseboards that need to be wiped down, wall corners that need to be touch-up painted, and kitchen cabinets that need to be organized.

Why doesn’t she want to do any of these FUN chores?  Seriously? They involve paint, spraying, and organizing Tupperware.. all things she LOVES!

I found a printable Goal Chart that I plan on using to track how much money she’s earned but I still need a list of ‘extra’ chores that are reasonable for a 6-year-old to do in order to get her started on a path of earning money.

Any ideas?  Please share them below! I really, really appreciate it!

I was not compensated in any way by KidPointz or Build-a-Bear Workshop for writing this post. Nor was I requested to write this post by either company. I just happened to mention them. This is 100% me. 🙂

Mom and Dad – 50/50?

Did you read the recent article "Mad at Dad" in Parenting magazine?

I was pleasantly surprised to read that 40% of moms are regularly angry at their husbands about their lack of help with every day chores, the kids, etc.  Despite the fact that we (myself and the women interviewed for the article) get angry at our husbands we love our husbands tremendously so this is not an attack on men or fathers, but is rather a way for moms to openly discuss our issues about this situation and hopefully share advice and ideas ultimately helping us to resolve one mom at a time.

I started a discussion on my MomLogic group about this very topic and would love for you to join in on the discussion!!

UPDATE:  A father who read my post joined my MomLogic discussion about this post offering very valuable advice/ideas from a man's point of view.  Oh, and the first thing he wrote is "Men are Dense".  Don't you love him already?

Alicia