Chores Without Whining? New System Satisfies both Kids and Parents
June 2003 | Vol. II - No. 6
New, Hot & Unusual
Chores Without Whining? New System Satisfies
both Kids and Parents
By Tim Connolly
June 2003
I Did My Chores!
With summer vacation only a month away, the dreaded doldrums—the affliction
that makes movement from the couch tantamount to being stretched on the
rack—can also be expected. Most of us remember that we would do or say almost
anything to get out of doing daily chores. Now, thanks to the new “I
Did My Chores!” The Hassle Free Chore System from Pressing Matters
Publishing (ToyFairPreview),
parents and kids no longer have to dread the call to action.
Created by former elementary school teacher Deeanne Graham Gist, “I Did
My Chores!” is an easy-to-use kit containing 50 chore cards color-coded
for morning, noon, after school, night time and extra, with blank cards
included for the parent to create unique tasks. After a chore is completed,
the child drops the chore card in the “I Did It!” box, to be redeemed
for a pre-determined number of “treat” tokens from Mom and Dad. The best
part for parents? The child maintains the entire system, with each chore
broken down into smaller tasks that remove the need for parental nagging.
Created for kids ages 4 and up (with pictures for non-readers), Gist
used the system for nine years with her own four children, and recent
informal market tests have shown a 100% success rate. Besides lifting
the nagging burden from parents, the system claims to teach kids emotional
intelligence in the form of self-motivation and delayed gratification.
A second chore set for kids ages 9-12 will be released within the year,
and another set designed for teens, “I Did My Homework: The Hassle
Free Homework System for Teens,” will be released in 2005. The sets
retail for $19.95. Inquiries can be made at the company’s website at ididmychores.com
Writer's Bio: Tim Connolly has a degree in film production
form the University of Texas at Austin and writes screenplays when he
isn’t test-driving remote control speed boats in his bathtub.
