Getting the Kids to do the Dishes

My oldest two boys, Douglas, 7 and Charles, 6, take turns emptying the dishwasher when it is done.  We require that it is done in 10 minutes, no more and they must dry any dishes that are still wet.  This is how we keep them in line with this job:  It's not perfect, far from it in fact, but it works for us.

We used to have them do it together.  One would do the top rack and one would do the bottom.  But this led to games and they'd be in the kitchen for half an hour.  Or they might sword-fight with knives.  This was not a good idea.  So we made some changes.

First of all, at this point, one adult in the house tells whichever boy's turn it is to come and do dishes.  (I want them to be noticing when the dishwasher is done and start the job without being told, but that is a work in progress.)  We know whose turn it is by whichever boy's picture is on the front of the fridge:

Obviously the boys are NOT six and seven in these photos.  My mom made these for me out of photos,  magnets and those bubble stickers you can find in the scrap booking section.  They are really neat.  She really needs to update the photos though and make more of the other two kids.

Anyways, whichever picture is on the front of the fridge is the boy whose turn it is to do the dishes.  The first thing they do is come and switch the pictures.  Their own goes on the side of the fridge and the other boy's magnet goes on the front.  This is an interesting concept in itself because when we first started this method, they each tried switching the pictures when no one was looking so the other boy had to do the dishes.  But when they were caught, they had to do the dishes five more times beyond that one.  That was a great discipline.  We could tell.  Neither one liked the idea.

I do once in a while expect a disappointed look or hanging head when they are told to come and take their turn, but if they stamp their feet or complain or whine or cry, then we add on additional dish duty turns until they get their attitude under control.  At this age, they seem to understand pending work.  If I told my four-year-old if he didn't do something he'd have future work, he just doesn't get that.

The other lesson they learned even quicker was when they forgot to switch the pictures and they had to do it again!  This was the worst for them because there was no one to blame but themselves.   If the other boy would laugh or tease for not having to do it, then they each did one rack.  Also, if anyone saw that one boy didn't switch the pictures, we do not remind him.  He wouldn't learn to change them on his own if he could subconsciously depend on someone else to tell him to switch them.

They also must get it done in 10 minutes or they have to do them again.  Once in a great while they might have problems with lots to dry or quite a few dishes to go up high in cupboards, which take extra time.  An adult might help or let the time limit be extended.  But the time limit was put in place so that they aren't wasting time.  If we see them fooling around during their time, we will stick to the 10 minute rule.

We have implemented this whole concept for quite a few months now and we rarely get complaints or have issues.  They know what they have to do because we have done it for so long. 

Here is Douglas doing dishes today.  Take note of his picture on the front of the fridge.  He didn't switch it at first, but he did finally remember afterwards. 

I really like this picture.  There is no anger or tension in his face.  Just a nice calm about him.  He never gives me problems with the dishes anymore.  Thanks Douglas!

I don't know if any of these ideas might help you, but I just thought I would pass it along.  Sometimes it's just hearing other's ideas to help us.


KUDOS:  I'm naming this dish duty method as my KUDOS today because it took a while to get it going and get it right.  It's not perfect, but I don't have trouble in getting the dishes put away quickly, correctly and quietly.