Ok, I'm sold.
Last week, I came home from the gym in the late afternoon to find Joshua showered, his room vacuumed and clean, the fish tank filled, and a 365 post ready for me to check.
(this is Joshua's hand-me-down bed, which used to be white before I painted it last summer)
I'd said nothing to him about any of these jobs before I left, and given that Joshua tends to be kind of scatterbrained about his chores (he rarely skips them on purpose...he just forgets about them!), I was pleasantly surprised to see all of this stuff done.
And pretty much every day since then, the same thing has happened. It's like a revolution has happened around here.
It's times like these that make me really happy that I blog, because if I didn't, I'd probably never heard of My Job Chart, the site that hired me to do a review a little while back (this post is not sponsored...it's just me writing because I want to!).
I have to admit, I was slightly skeptical of this service at first. I thought it would be a bit of a pain for Joshua to hop on the computer every time to see his chore list, and I thought he might forget all about it. And given that I wasn't planning on using the rewards feature of the site, I wasn't sure it would be particularly motivating.
But I couldn't be more wrong. He checks it every day before he heads off to play after school, and he doesn't think having a computer-based chore list is at all inconvenient.
And for me, it's super convenient. Once I plugged in all of his chores, there was nothing else for me to do, and the chore chart reminds him of jobs that I often forgot about. When he asks if he can call a friend or go out and play, I don't have to run over a list of specific chores...I just have to ask him if he's checked everything off his chart. He's not forgetting to take the trash out anymore, the fish tank always has water in it, his hamper isn't overflowing, and I am one happy mom.
Joshua liked using My Job Chart so much, Lisey got a little jealous (I didn't sign her up initially because she's the sort of kid who just doesn't forget to do chores!).
So, she's now signed up too, and she loves to check off her chores and hear the applause sound (it totally cracks me up that my kids like that.).
Being able to pick their own profile pictures was definitely an added plus for them, and their choices are just so "them" (axolotls and a guinea pig).
But since it's April Fools Day today, Joshua is in a prank-y mood and has swapped Lisey's fuzzy guinea pig for something less, uh, cute.
I don't think she's noticed yet. Hee.
So, anyhoo....I just wanted to tell you guys that I'm quite enamored with My Job Chart, and if you're having trouble keeping track of your children's chores and duties, I'd definitely recommend giving this free service a try.
Did any of you give it a try after I reviewed the site? If you did, what do you think so far?
(just so ya know, I was not hired to write this post, and I receive no compensation or payment if you sign up and use the service).
Oh, that's a good April Fools joke.
Lisey didn't think it was as funny as Joshua did. Oh well. =P
hahaha wtg on the prank, Joshua!
oh, and I wanted to add (children, distractions - Praise God it's Friday!) I'm not surprised that an online chart like that would motivate him. I know it may not work for everyone, but it reminds me of my weightloss progress and how I've used an online site to help me with that. It keeps me accountable, and I love that! I may look into that site myself, rather than putting up our ginormous chore chart dry erase board in our new house!
Huh. I wonder if there is an app for somerhig similar for iProducts. My son loves education apps that have a reward-based scene as well. I'll bet a chore app would be well received.
Wow you did a great job. I am going to paint a used bed for my youngest. Thanks for the photo.
I actually signed up after you initially reviewed it, but not for my kids - for myself, lol. I haven't used it much because I got sidetracked, but it seems like a really nice service. When my kids (3, 1, and due in August) are old enough to log online and do actual chores, I really hope this service still exists!
I was thinking of creating an account for myself too! lol
I was wondering if it would work for me! Maybe simluated applause will even motivate adults!
I checked out My Job Chart, and right away I knew it was the solution I was looking for. My girls all have iPod Touch's, so they can access the Internet as long as we are at home. They love to use the app's, so My Job Chart fits right in to what they are already doing. Thank you SOOOOO much for reviewing this site!
It sounds worth a try!!! I am so proud of Joshua!!!!
I tried it with my kids after you reviewed it. The only thing I don't like about it is that only one kid can be signed in at a time. Since we only have one computer, this has led to some squabbles. I've also been using it as a job chart for myself, and it does help me remember and get things done.
How do you have it set up without the rewards?
I'm also curious about the rewards system. Maybe I need it for myself too - I hate cleaning the bathroom!!
HEY! That's the same one I use! Its been a wonderful thing since the wall ones just don't cut it around here! My kids don't get to use my computer - so therefore its an added incentive!
hi there! I am reading this post about my job chart which we are also doing, but my question is here it is a year later, are your kids still doing it? did the novelty ever wear off at your house? it has here big time and now i am getting major attitude from my 9 year old not for still having to do chores, but for things she wants to do costing points. she doesn't seem interested in getting the points even if she does the chores. i am guessing i will just have to still stick with charging points for things whether she wants to earn them or not, and go thru that painful period when she has no points for anything....and then hopefully she will heave a sigh and just buckle down and do it. what happened at your house?
Yep, mine are still using it! We don't generally do rewards for the chores they do, but they need to have checked off their Job Chart lists before they can go outside to play, or visit a friend, or talk on the phone, etc.
thanks Kristen! Had you ever done the rewards in the past and just kind of faded away from it? or maybe just points of out of the ordinary big rewards? my thing is that of course i want all the chores done ,but if she decides for a week she doesn't care if she has any points for anything (it's all extra reward stuff anyway like fro yo, sleepover, extra tv time...so one week she may not care if she has any points for that!) then for that week i have to be ok with the chores not getting done (and we include stuff like brushing teeth, feeding pets, drinking a full bottle of water as chores). UNLESS i make the additional caveat like you have that she cannot do X each day if the chores are not checked off. of course THEN, there will still be days that she'll say FINE i don't care, i'm just going up to bed and read. and that will be that i guess!