Job jars

The weekend has just passed and I did not get everything done I had intended. I can hardly remember a Monday when that was not the case.

When I was taking graduate classes, teaching full time, and raising three children, sometimes the household chores became overwhelming. I needed help. One morning it came to me—create a Job Jar! It was a simple idea. I cut slips of paper and put one household chore on each slip of paper. Take out the trash. Fold the towels. Empty the dishwasher…you get the idea. I also put in a few slips that said Free Day to make the Job Jar more palatable. I put all of the slips in a red plastic jar, let the kids know that each child needed to draw a job for the day, and also let them know  there were Free Day slips.

I was amazed at the result. No one grumbled as they each drew their slip and the chore itself seemed more like a game than work.  No one drew a free day slip that first day, and I was relieved when Brad drew one the second round—now there was evidence that there really were some free day slips in the jar.

Over time, I learned some important strategies to keep the Job Jar from being contentious.

·        Jobs cannot be traded with siblings—what you draw is what you get.

·         I drew a job, too—we are all in this together.

·         I encouraged the kids to submit jobs to the job jar—it is surprising what kids see that needs to be done.

·         We drew out all the jobs until the jar was empty  before starting over.

·         I posted the job with the child’s name on the refrigerator and then did not mention the job again—I was amazed that this worked. The kids kept each other accountable.

·         As the kids got older and their schedules became heavier, we  drew jobs by the week instead of the day—they each drew five jobs and needed to complete those jobs as their scheduled allowed before the end of the week.