How ping pong balls cleaned my house.

We are always looking for ways to make chores more enjoyable (and therefore reduce complaining). We started a ping pong ball chore jar over 6 months ago and the novelty hasn't worn off yet. Every Saturday morning we draw ping pong balls out of a jar (without looking) and there is a chore written on each one. I occasionally add a new chore ball or throw in a silly one (like do 10 jumping jacks) and the girls really look forward to it.

I've actually heard things like:

"I can't wait until Saturday because then we get to do chores!"

"Tomorrow is chore day!!"

"I hope I choose 'clean toilets' from the jar." (Amelia likes to pretend she's a dentist cleaning a mouth.)

We rewarded ourselves yesterday with a mid-morning movie after we finished chores since we were avoiding the heat. We watched one of Amelia's favorite movies, The Secret of Kells (which is streaming on Netflix). Great movie with really cool animation.