Summertime Avoiding the Chaos : Chores and Daily Sweating!!

Today I thought I would share with you how we handle chores at our little house. My kids are older 19,12 and 10 so they are capable of a lot! And so therefore a lot is expected of them. They each have bathroom chores, vacuuming, dishes, unloading the dishwasher, mowing the lawn, pet care and a host of other responsibilities each week in addition to the typical cleaning their room and tidying up after themselves. But since the kids and I are home most of the time together I decided last summer to ad my name to the chore list so they can see how ALL the chores are split up. No complaints of, "I have to do everything!" coming from kids in my house!! 

Also you will see that I added exercise to my kids chore lists. We struggle with getting them active enough since they would all prefer video games to soccer. And healthy kids is extremely important to me as it is to most parents. We talk a lot about healthy habits and making choices for healthy bodies. I try not to have much junk food in the house while balancing the fact that they are kids and need some amount of "fun" food so they don't feel left out with their friends. Who wants to be the only kid who has never had a twinkie??? BUT we focus on the fact that foods like that are "sometimes foods" not a daily treat. I try to use fruit, fresh or dried as a dessert for myself and encourage them to do the same. Now why do I add it to their chore lists??? Shouldn't exercise be fun?? Well yes it should be and we do try to incorporate fun exercise into the day, backyard kickball games or frisbee, swimming at the pool, canoeing or hiking and we frequently take walks in the evening and encourage them to ride their bikes and come along for a few miles. But if I didn't add it to their chore lists those activities that I plan would be the only exercise they chose to do. Just being honest, it is who they are. They would rather be reading or playing games. So by adding it and putting routines together they can do that incorporate some fun moves but all solid cardio circuits I hope to instill the importance of getting their bodies sweaty on a daily basis. Obviously not everyone will agree with me, that is fine, this is how I choose to raise my kids. So here is a snapshot of our chore list!