About me
Since I was a kid, I have tried to find ways to make doing chores more enjoyable. Can I make a game of it?
I credit my mom for the inspiration. My mother, Sally, had seven children, and many days it felt like her sole mission was to get us moving. It wasn’t easy. Sally was resourceful though—in fact, I think she actually invented what's now known as “Pay to Play.” We weren’t allowed to do anything fun—hangout with friends, go to the pool, ride bikes—until we did our chores.
I was the middle child. A squirrely awkward girl who just wanted to be in the middle of everything. I was up in everyone’s business. Sometimes it was listening to my older sisters gossip with their friends. I’d agree to be their personal slave just to be in earshot. Another time, my little brother hit me with a baseball bat when he discovered me lurking around his all-boy backyard birthday party. He outgrew his anger issues, thankfully.
Basically, I was kid who got bored easily and who wasn’t willing to delay gratification. Chores before fun. Sorry, Mom, couldn’t do it.
So I would invent silly games to make it fun for me and my siblings—at least the ones I could get to play along. There was “The 10-Pick-Up Game.” I still occasionally get a text from my younger sister telling me, “Playing the 10-pick-up game.”
I’d like to say life’s been all fun and games for me. But the truth is that for decades I lost touch with that creative little girl who just wanted to have a good time. What stuck: my mom’s chores-first mindset. Weekends often were a grudge match: me vs. my to-do list. No fun to be had. And some days I was paralyzed, not sure where to even start.
One Saturday, in my kitchen in Walla Walla, WA, I shook things up. I took a small handful of decorative rocks and numbered them. I created a game I dubbed “Rock Your Chores.” It made me more focused and productive—and helped me find more joy in the doing. Since that day, I have developed a number of other games, tricks and strategies to get myself moving and to make it more fun.
I think that little girl might even be OK hanging out with me on a Saturday. There’s going to be some fun. Things might even get silly.
I credit my mom for the inspiration. My mother, Sally, had seven children, and many days it felt like her sole mission was to get us moving. It wasn’t easy. Sally was resourceful though—in fact, I think she actually invented what's now known as “Pay to Play.” We weren’t allowed to do anything fun—hangout with friends, go to the pool, ride bikes—until we did our chores.
I was the middle child. A squirrely awkward girl who just wanted to be in the middle of everything. I was up in everyone’s business. Sometimes it was listening to my older sisters gossip with their friends. I’d agree to be their personal slave just to be in earshot. Another time, my little brother hit me with a baseball bat when he discovered me lurking around his all-boy backyard birthday party. He outgrew his anger issues, thankfully.
Basically, I was kid who got bored easily and who wasn’t willing to delay gratification. Chores before fun. Sorry, Mom, couldn’t do it.
So I would invent silly games to make it fun for me and my siblings—at least the ones I could get to play along. There was “The 10-Pick-Up Game.” I still occasionally get a text from my younger sister telling me, “Playing the 10-pick-up game.”
I’d like to say life’s been all fun and games for me. But the truth is that for decades I lost touch with that creative little girl who just wanted to have a good time. What stuck: my mom’s chores-first mindset. Weekends often were a grudge match: me vs. my to-do list. No fun to be had. And some days I was paralyzed, not sure where to even start.
One Saturday, in my kitchen in Walla Walla, WA, I shook things up. I took a small handful of decorative rocks and numbered them. I created a game I dubbed “Rock Your Chores.” It made me more focused and productive—and helped me find more joy in the doing. Since that day, I have developed a number of other games, tricks and strategies to get myself moving and to make it more fun.
I think that little girl might even be OK hanging out with me on a Saturday. There’s going to be some fun. Things might even get silly.
--Margie