After lunch jobs

Do you ever have an idea that works? And works great! Well, that is what happened with this idea for after lunch jobs. It seemed like every day when lunch was finished I was left with cleaning up the dishes, vacuuming under the bar stools, getting the mail, sweeping the kitchen, switching laundry from the washer to the dryer, taking out the trash, etc. Now I didn't have to do all of these jobs every day, but obviously after lunch was when I would try to catch up on lots of tasks because we had been busy with school for most of the morning. (Disclaimer - Todd comes home nearly every day for lunch and he is tremendously helpful. Thanks honey!) I don't even remember how this idea started, but one day I gathered all the boys and told them that they each would have an after lunch job. Since then it has become a routine. The boys finish lunch, take their dishes to the sink and then they each get their assigned job. It is awesome to have help!

On a given day I will have Connor getting the mail, Hunter taking out the trash, Colton vacuuming up crumbs and Carter moving the laundry. It's like I am an octopus, accomplishing five jobs at once! Now there are definitely jobs that the boys like better than others. Getting the mail? Awesome! Because it is an easy job that takes very little time. Emptying all the small trashcans from around the house into the kitchen trash? This job makes them groan. In fact, Colton got this job last week and I heard him cry, "I hate this job!" as he stomped up the stairs.

Just for fun I have been throwing in a random "fun" job lately. For example, I will secretly write down four jobs such as: 1) Gather trash, 2) Vacuum up crumbs, 3) Jump on the trampoline, and 4) Get the mail. Then I let each boy pick a number. You should see the face of the boy who gets the fun job. Today Hunter was the lucky boy. He was assigned to "go ride your scooter." Laughing he told his brothers, "If you need me, I'll be outside on my scooter."