Chore-pathy

We're at the end of our fourth week using the Chore Chart and Virtual Allowance. Deanna's flourishing. She loves the order, the organization, and always having a clean room. It only takes 10 minutes each morning consistently and her room is neat for the first time ever. She also feels like she has more free time because her chore and homework time is so scheduled. There's no time wasted. Time for a snack and visiting with Mom is scheduled in, but she also has a quitting time for homework so, even if she's not completely done, she always gets playtime. She's carrying her virtual allowance forward so she can get her $50.00 matched by Don and I to put in her savings account.

Dane is another matter. He's sluggish, can't seem to finish anything on his morning schedule on time, and hasn't done any of his evening chores this week. I finally sat down with him yesterday and talked with him about the problem. He claims that he can't hack it because there are times next to everything and he doesn't have a clock in his room. I told him not to worry about the times - just focus on moving down the list. When everything's done, we'll look at the time and see how he's doing. The truth is, I've padded lots of extra time into his schedule, so he can easily get everything done in the morning, even with a few distractions. But he needs to work down the list, not jump out of bed, dress, and take off into the Toy Room to play. I asked him if he thought it might help for me to redo his list without times. "Yeah," he responded. "That would work. I wouldn't worry about the time and be able to work."

It's worth a try, although I really think the problem is that he's just not interested. I'm going to do his morning schedule sans the times and we'll see if there's any improvement. But, I fear, I'm going to have to teach the child discipline before we'll have any success.