This morning in my email I received the following email:
Dear chris,
Oops, [Your child] hasn’t been doing chores! This is a weekly reminder to ask your kids to login to Handipoints to mark their chores off and claim their points! Kids earn special prizes in HandiLand for marking off their chores throughout the week.
Keeping up with a routine is hard. That’s why we’ve created easy tools for your kids to track their chores online. Login now with your kids to update your chore charts: http://www.handipoints.com
/reminder. Regards,
Handipoints Support
I love this feature! Because honestly it isn’t my children not doing their chores, it is me not finding the time to log in and check everything off. The weather here has just turned beautiful which means my children are not asking to use the computer. They want to be outside playing, soaking up the sunshine, hitting balls with sticks wearing uniforms I have to wash constantly. Oh wait, this isn’t about me, ahem.
Routine is difficult. When other things change, sometimes everything else seems to fall apart along with it. I am not sure why this happens. But yesterday afternoon when I was surrounded by basket after basket of laundry that needed washing, as well as several sets of sheets and comforters, so much so that I could barely walk through my laundry room, I realized that it is not just my children who are afflicted with this.
The job of doing the laundry looked so huge and overwhelming, that I really didn’t know where to begin. I was half tempted to just walk out of the room and leave it for another day. Instead I threw a load into the washer, and slowly plugged away all day long.
As soon as each load came out of the dryer I folded it and called the owners of the clothing to put it away. That way I didn’t have piles of clean clothing folded and co-mingling with the dirty clothes. Because we all know what happens, the clean clothing jumps into the dirty clothing bins and gets washed over and over again.
Last night all the sheets were folded and put away. There were plenty of towels already in the bathroom for everyone to use for their baths and showers. (Of course I had to wash those AGAIN, because the laundry never stops) But this morning when I woke up the laundry room was as empty as it could ever be. I folded the last load out of the dryer, made the kids put their stuff away, hopefully in their drawers and not their hampers.
If there were a handipoints for grownups, I’d be cashing in those points right now. Hmmmm, now that I think about it I might just treat myself to a coffee later on today.
And EACH load of laundry would be worth maximal points! How many points before you can buy new shoes?
Comment by Brigitte — June 10, 2008 @ 4:45 am
wen will it be time for biing hauses thanks
Comment by michael — June 11, 2008 @ 5:28 am
Hi Chris,
Why don’t you just set yourself up an kids account and start earning those Handipoints yourself. I did that, but have not yet set up my chores list. I plan on rewarding myself as much as my kid. After all, my inner child feels left out if she doesn’t get rewards every once in a while.
Mean and Nasty
Comment by Mean and Nasty — August 26, 2008 @ 7:19 pm
I was just thinking of setting up my own Handipoints checklist when I read this! It’s been so amazing how excited the kids are to check off their chore charts. (We printed a weekly chart out and laminated it to save on paper … then we use a dry erase marker to keep score) The kids get graded in things they already do (or should be doing), and I can challenge them to help out with things that overwhelm me. (cooking, cleaning, keeping a schedule).
One item I put on their charts was to put their clothes away on M-W-F. Well, I just realized, that in order to help them succeed … I need to be doing wash on M-W-F. Just setting this simple goal down on paper for myself has taken the burden of laundry day off my shoulders. By doing the wash on a schedule I now have less loads to wash and more “hands” to help get it done.
Also, the kids are so excited about earning “extra points” (be respectful of others) … that they try and find things to do around the house to help out. My oldest actually asked if she could make dinner because she saw my task load.
So Mom’s & Dad’s I encourage you to make a handichart for yourself. Put in things that are important to you and your family. Remember that you can create custom tasks (spend time with the kids, take a hot bath, make a date with your spouse) … and remember to reward youself also. (a movie without the kids, pizza night, a family picnic). And you might learn a thing or two about your better half when you view your spouse’s ideas of tasks and rewards.
Comment by Mommyof3 — August 27, 2008 @ 10:48 am
I can’t seem to find where to start a new topic. So, I’m just adding one to here. (By the way, I like the idea of reminders. It’s another tool I can use for motivating my kids, too!)
Anyway, I have a question about the chat feature. Is there any other chat feature besides picking from phrases already provided?
Thanks!
Comment by Pamela La Gioia — February 27, 2009 @ 3:19 pm