The Great Escape

The chore chart made a smashing debut last week and Chris and I were absolutely thrilled with its success. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday the girls were energetic and productive. They fed animals, they packed lunches, they picked up toys. By Thursday and Friday we could see their interest slowly waning. Bela decided to forego the stars for a few days and let me pack her lunch, even after I threatened to fill her bag with roasted brussels sprouts.

The entire system came to a crashing halt over the weekend. In fact, the weekend was shameful. Not one thing accomplished. Not one star. The dream had died.

It almost embarrasses me (on their behalf) to report here their total earnings for their first week of chores:

Bela - $2.70
Mae - $1.60

The funny thing is that it doesn't embarrass them. They were thrilled. I wrote their names on their jars, dropped the money in, and handed it over. I also decided that I would deduct the 10% for their savings at the end of the month, when I had more to work with than, say, Mae's 16 cents.

Now that we are back in the midst of another school week, they are slowly accumulating stars again. The favorite (read, easiest) chores? Putting dirty clothes in the hamper, picking up toys and clearing the craft table, setting and clearing the dinner table (but not the breakfast table). The least favorite? They never make their beds, they balk at making their lunches, and they seem to forget entirely about feeding the animals.

Now, while I'm not a hamster lover I somehow became the default caretaker of our tiny little rodent just over a year ago. When I put Mae in charge of feeding him, I did so because I knew he was hardy. He was a survivor. I made a mental note to check up on him once in awhile, which is exactly what I was about to do yesterday afternoon when Bela burst through the playroom door to announce between sobs that he was gone. He had escaped.

The story? 24 hours earlier Bela had decided to put Little John in his exercise ball (probably when she was supposed to be picking the 250 books up off her bedroom floor, or feeding the fish, or making her lunch). And then she simply forgot. So yesterday afternoon just moments before I dropped in on the little guy Bela discovered his little green plastic ball in a corner of the back porch, lid missing, hamster gone.

After comforting Bela while rolling my eyes excessively, we decided to get down their jars. Chris and I impressed the girls with our quick math skills. $2.70 + $1.60 = $4.30. Which also happens to be only about 70 cents shy of one, new, hamster.

Chore chart to the rescue.

The lesson? Do a mediocre job completing your assigned duties for the week, earn money anyway, carelessly toss away the life of a helpless little rodent, and immediately replace him with a shiny new one with every last penny you made in your first week of work.

Yes. I think we're on to something.