How to Stop Nagging Your Kids

Say the word "nag" and the term wife and/or mother usually comes to mind. According to Webster's dictionary, to nag means "to annoy by persistent faultfinding, complaints, or demands". Mothers often find themselves having to repeatedly remind children to clean their room, do the dishes, brush their teeth, do their homework, come home on time, drive carefully, remember who they are, and turn off the TV. And yes, this is annoying to them, thus we are considered naggers.

In the past, Saturdays seemed to be the worst of all days for me. Perhaps because I created a to-do list a mile long and because the kids were home to nag, I nagged. And I nagged all of the kids, all day. No wonder they wanted to leave as soon as their chores were finished.

A couple of years ago, though, I read a book that changed things. This book taught me to give the kids a list of chores and to create consequences, both good and bad, that will be realized when the chores are done... or not.

This cuts out the Saturday morning nagging! I simply type my kids chores into myjobchart.com where they can log in and see what needs to be done. Myjobchart.com comes with a point system whereby kids can earn rewards such as a date with Mom and Dad, an ice cream party, a movie night, or even a toy or game. This alone is great motivation to get things done without me having to nag.

However, the teenagers aren't so easily motivated by a juvenile internet job chart and point system. With them, harsher measures must be taken. Their rewards for getting their chores finished include being able to invite friends over and visit friends, use the computer for something other than homework, like Facebook, and getting movie time in the theater downstairs. Again, the consequences can do the nagging so I don't have to.

So last Saturday I had made an extensive list of chores for the dear ones to complete. They knew that they would not be able to invite friends over, play the Play Station or the computer, nor watch movies unless this list was completed. I began work on my chores wholeheartedly, but when I looked out the window, what should I see but the 14-year-old boy doing this...

I immediately felt my nagging adrenaline began to pump through my veins, and I began the process of stomping the down the hall to give him a good talking to. Halfway through my trek, though, I remembered my no-nagging policy. He could play basketball to his heart's content (and maybe if he keeps practicing he will actually make the team this year) and at some point he would remember that he couldn't have friends over (the wish of his heart) until his chores were finished.

So I grabbed my camera, put the strap around my neck and instead of nagging, took pictures of him and some of his siblings...

As you can see above, at the least the 9-year-old girl had started her chores, which included 30 minutes of Baby Hippo babysitting. The twins helped out with their chores, too...

...or not...

Anyway, I never nagged once and eventually he did get everything crossed off his list. It felt great not to have my name be synonymous with "nag", our house got tidied up, he learned a lesson about time organization and I got some fun pictures.

Let's see if I can remember to do this again next Saturday. Thanks for listening!

P.S. My sister and I are finally getting skinnier!
See how we're doing it HERE! :)