Works for me Wednesday - Kid Chores

My kids are really working this Wednesday! They were feeling kinda whiny on Tuesday after Monday's flu shots, but they are going to go into high gear for a Fall Work Wednesday! Our school day will be just the basics as we tackle some major cooking & cleaning tasks.

They all have their general areas of expertise, which I believe is the way to go with kid chores! Every now and then we switch things up to prevent boredom, but they know their tasks well and I encourage them to teach each other. Ally is our resident laundry expert (I'm not allowed to fold shirts anymore because I don't fold right). She folds and puts away laundry while listening to books on CD. 8 year old Gracie's domain is the kitchen, she cleans and she cooks. Daniel is our gopher boy. At 6 he handles trash, silverware, switches laundry from the washer to the dryer, and carries it to Ally for folding, and assists as needed. I'm careful to oversee Gracie and Daniel most of the time - but Ally, at almost 12, can be fully trusted to handle her chores without my help. I love to pair them up and have them train and teach each other - they both learn more that way!

Here's the do list for our Wednesday cook-ahead -not a major list, but just enough to make meals much more pleasant for the next couple of weeks!

Daniel:

• making 1 whole loaf of bread into PBJ sandwiches to freeze for quick lunches
• mixing and kneading a large batch of salt dough for some upcoming craft projects
• mixing a large batch of hot chocolate mix
• he'll also be making lunch since the rest of us will be too busy - grill cheese is his favorite

Gracie:

Gracie will be my assistant for the 4 meals we will cook-ahead for the weeks to come

• Mexican Manicotti
• King Ranch Chicken
• Cheesy Noodle Casserole
• Sweet and Sour Chicken

Ally:

• A double batch of soft Pretzels and Bread
• A double batch of muffins
• Rice Krispie Treats
• Healthy oatmeal cookies

We have been making a large batch of chocolate chip waffles every week for breakfast and they have been so good! We are using whole wheat flour and we eat them without syrup, so they are relatively healthy, and the kids LOVE them.