According to the Chore Instructional....

In general I do not enjoy offering vocal instruction to my offspring, especially in a repetitive fashion. I got around this problem by typing up a chore instructional which offers step by step instruction on everything from brushing one's teeth to the proper manner in which the dining room table is to be cleared. Along with the instructional is a very detailed chore chart to be checked and executed daily, and along with this is a spread sheet on the computer where allowance tallies are kept on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis. Penalties and fines are properly recorded daily based on performance and payments are made in silver. This is life as a Hodges child.

The chore instructional is kept in a looseleaf folder on a desk in the kitchen so that one may quickly reference their particular chore to freshen up on processes.

The other day the three middle boys were showering in the hall bath and Jon rapped on the door to ask what in the world was taking so long, and why weren't they getting out. The response came from Charles: "Dad, according to the chore instructional, all of us must remain in the bathtub until everyone has finished bathing. We are waiting for Gabriel to finish rinsing off."

I was tucking Vivian into bed down the hall and beamed. Jon ducked his head into Vivvie's bedroom and said, "Did you hear that? Chore instructional." I grinned widely. "That child must belong to his mother."