Answers · Setting it up

Should my children share one chart?

No — give each child their own, because a shared chart turns siblings into each other's competition and the one who finds things hardest always loses.

A shared chart is appealing for obvious reasons: one thing on the fridge, one system to keep up with, and it feels fair. It is the setup most likely to hurt the child you built it for.

What a shared chart does

Separate charts, same house

Each child gets their own list, priced to what is hard for them. A sibling who finds everything easy can still have one — with harder things on it, which is the honest version anyway.

If they want a shared goal, make it a separate thing that both contribute to and neither can lose: a film night the family reaches together. Cooperative, not comparative.

The question they will ask

"Why does she get points for that and I don't?" is worth a straight answer, and there is a good one: because it is hard for her and it is easy for you. You get points for the things that are hard for you. Children accept that more readily than adults expect. What they will not accept is pretending the two of them find the same things difficult.

Last updated 2026-09-08.

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