Testimonials from Hire & Fire Your Kids Families
Check out what Hire & Fire Fam's have to say about us.
Sheila P
1 Boy - Age 13
"I am so grateful to have this system in place. Keeps us all accountable for household chores, we all enjoy playing Hire and Fire your Kids. We love the structure it's created, it's working well, our son has been such a great contribution to our home. Just what we needed to get back on track!"
Jake
2 Girls - Age 14 & 10
"It never occurred to me how beneficial it would be to regulate and encourage our girls' ‘payday’ before HFK, much like how adults are paid for their work. It has taught our kids hard work and patience comes with rewards."
Rachel
1 boy - age 8
"We love Hire and Fire your Kids. I have an 8 year old and this app helps him see what jobs are available and what he CAN do. He also takes responsibility for his jobs and understands the expectations in our house which is awesome! Definitely an app every family should have".
JANICE SIVITILLI -“THE KNOTTY CONTESSA”
Mom of 2
"As a busy entrepreneur and Mother, I was looking for a way to encourage my son to help more around the house. Hire and Fire Your Kids is the perfect solution. He can find jobs he’s been approved to do and hire himself to do them. Once done, I get to approve when it’s complete and he gets rewarded for it. Plus, the warning system is great. A simple ‘x’ on his profile for the week is a great visual reminder and I don’t feel like I’m nagging him (which really goes in one ear and out of the other). Definitely recommend Hire and Fire Your Kids to anyone with kids!
Christine, Mom of 3
"Hire & Fire has completely transformed our house, and the way our family operates. I have 3 very, VERY, busy boys, ages 6,8,9. Our house was becoming what I would consider a “frat house”.... arguing, not respecting each other, bad language and not helping around the house.
We have found hire and fire as a great way to communicate with the boys, our expectations in the home... and they have really taken to it.. even going above and beyond to earn extra money for items they are saving up to buy.
We have noticed great improvements in the way our house operates and functions since we started hire and fire your kids."
Amber, Mom of 1
"I was googling ideas for setting up a chore chart that rewards per job when I happened to open Facebook to see a friend share this Hire or Fire Your Kids app. I wish I had thought of this idea first it's perfect! My son had asked to start making an allowance but had never actually done any chores in his life. I introduced him to the app and he said "oh wow this is like a game!" He was so excited he did almost every job on the list that day. The next day he came home and said "what jobs can I do today?" This app is going to shake things up for parenting, this makes chores fun and shows progress to the children as they go. This app has a child learning values of taking care of a home, life skills, as well as learning about and handling money. I highly recommend it to all parents."
Lina Pezzo and Sarah Elkami Trdina - Director/Co-Founders | OCT, MPEd, BCBA
"This past weekend we met Jody Swain at a local expo and heard all about her amazing, behaviour based app called "Hire and Fire Your Kids". This app involves so many applied behaviour analysis (ABA) principals including the pre-mack principal, self-monitoring, response cost, reinforcement contingencies, rule-governed behaviour and group contingencies! The app encourages children to become responsible for household chores, while learning the value of working for rewards and working collaborative with a team. A well thought out app we are excited to learn more about it!"
Chelsea
Mom of 1 Boy
"This is such a neat app idea and I'm so impressed with how much the KIDS are so into it. My son is excited to apply for the chores around the house and loves the feedback messages he gets in the app."
Edward
dad of 3 Boys
"Having a fun reason to interact with the teens that is focused on their upbringing is awesome! I don't have to feel like a nag and they are taking pride in their own accomplishments."
tara
Mom of 2 girls
"I feel a lot less stressed and bitter trying to do it all...now having the girls tasks laid out for them with specific responsibilities outlined it’s crystal clear for us and the kids."
Alana McClure - Mom of 3
"Hire & Fire Your Kids is awesome. My 14 year old has taken over the gardening. My 12 year old is keeping her room clean (and is working on remembering to turn her bedroom light off) and my 9 year old son is asking to dust the house daily LOL!! They fight over who gets to do which job and you should have seen my 12 year olds face when she went to buy a pair of shorts but only had $30 to spend… “Mom I can’t believe shorts are so much money!” Oh and did I mention my 14yr old decided to split her earnings? 40% education savings, 20% spending 10% charity and 30% Retirement fund!
I think we’ll be keeping this app around for a long while!"
Melissa - Mom of 3
"Being a busy mother to three young children, assigning household chores and keeping an organized task system, was often placed onto the back burner. Hire and Fire Your Kids has been an extremely useful tool for our family. The app makes it FUN and EASY for myself and my children, to keep track of chores around the home. I have noticed positive behavioural changes in all of my children, since using Hire and Fire Your Kids. The biggest positive change has been watching my kids, eagerly take on extra responsibilities, finish them properly and have a sense of pride in their accomplishments. Thank you, Jody for making our lives a little less hectic and helping to teach our children the value of hard work and money-saving!"
Stephanie Scott B.A
Child and youth councellor, Published Canadian Children's Book Author
"I am a Child and Youth Counsellor who provides in-home support around behaviour management. When I found out about Hire and Fire Your Kids app, I was so excited to share it with some families in need. After implementing this app in their home consistently, and teaching the family about their roles and responsibilities, it had changed their home life from chaos to cooperation. Their son who is on the spectrum was struggling with initiative and follow through on simple chores, and the parents were struggling to be consistent with their approach and response to getting him motivated. In order for him to make any effort towards his daily chores, it would normally mean that his parents would have to constantly nag him and create various checklists, which would eventually turn into receiving even more attitude and arguments with their son. This was a constant battle that each any every one involved did not have the energy for. In addition, the parents were finding it hard to understand the importance of praise even for the little achievements he made. This app (he loves electronics) has totally gained his interest in completing not only the simple chores he is expected to do, but take the lead and offer to complete other tasks that demonstrate he can contribute towards his house hold. It has been more enjoyable for the family to give praise and recognition where it is due, and has been a teachable tool for him to understand the real world, as he is approaching high school. I am happy to add Hire and Fire Your Kids app to my resource collection! I am eager to share it with other families in need, and watch how it makes a positive and fun, difference in their lives.
Great app!'
Christine
Mom of 3 Boys
"We implemented it into our home a month ago and have already noticed an improvement in our boys behaviour and help around the house.
Hire and Fire your Kids is an amazing family activity that teaches your children the importance of helping out at home and having respect for one another.
We have found it to be a game changer with our boys!"
Michelle
mom of 2
"Hire and Fire your Kids has transformed the way we interact in the house. There is less complaining from my two kids and less nagging/yelling from me. We now work as a team to keep the house clean.
We love having our monthly family meetings to discuss and revise expectations and discuss how the girls want to use the points they have earned."
wendy
mom of 2
"My son never has anything on his floor anymore, Hire and Fire your Kids has been working great!
We like the probationary period and how this month is all about awareness, as we all (parent and child) get used to the game.
We customized it to have pay day every two weeks instead of monthly - we are finding this keeps our boys on track and motivated more consistently."
Jamie MacLean - Mom of 2
"I think this concept is brilliant and congratulate the Hire & Fire Your kids Team on their recent launch. Today’s parents are more time starved than ever before, with so many parents working full time jobs. Multi-tasking to keep the home in order is a nearly impossible mission unless you can get the kids to pitch in and play a role.
Researchers from Bar-Ilan University in Israel and Michigan State University looked at 368 working mothers and 241 fathers who worked outside the home. Turns out, the women were on overdrive, with some even describing the hours between 5 and 8 p.m. as the “arsenic hours.” Sounds familiar? I think every family needs direction, and an easy to execute plan that works and most are desperate for an answer.
Jody has found a niche that has incredible potential to change a lot of lives. I think she is really on to something here. A smart and timely program that I am looking forward to trying out!"
Aaron - Dad of 3
"4 weeks in and my girls are still excited about doing chores. And it’s little to no work on my part! I went with the suggested wages even though I thought they were high, but it’s cheaper than a housekeeper and it’s enough to motivate the kids. With this app, I feel like a super dad!"
Aaron's daughters say:
Josie: It makes me rich!! Tells me how much I’ve made in total on HFK. I like the checklist feature because I know what I need to do. I like the look of the icons and how many there are.
Hallie: It encourages us to help in the family. Says the salary before you apply for a job. Erica: I like that I can get money from it.
Lisa, MSW, LICSW
School social worker
"As a school social worker who works with teachers, parents and students, I am often asked how to help improve their child’s social, emotional and behavioral concerns. Using a consistent plan like, Hire and Fire your Kids, that focuses on positive supports, reinforcers and firm expectations, your child is encouraged to make good choices. They will begin to recognize that their behaviors (whether it be thought out or impulsive) will lead to consequences or rewards."
dina
Mom of 2
"I started using HFK after I got tired of chasing my kids to do chores, and they often argued about who’s chore it is. With the app, they sign up for the chores THEY want to do, so they’re more likely to stick to them and there’s no question as who’s job it is. Also, sending warnings and penalties through the app saves me from yelling them out.
We noticed an improvement in how our household runs because everyone has clear responsibilities. The monetary reward is a great incentive as well.
Sheila
mom of 2
"I love Hire and Fire your Kids, it's working out very well for us. We set a happy tone and make it fun, our girls look forward to playing! As parents we are "playing the game" showing the kids our responsibilities too. It takes a whole family to run a house and Hire and Fire your Kids is a great tool to achieve this."
Anne
mom of 3
"My kids were excited to start playing Hire and Fire your Kids! Lots of X's being handed out for month 1, but it has helped with the awareness around our expectations. I am actually still shocked at how serious my kids are taking Hire and Fire."
Jay - Mom of 1
"As a parent I struggled with my child just to do small things like being responsible of her daily routines without me having to tell her over and over again. Her routines were making her bed, tiding her room, setting the kitchen table, putting her backpack away after school and taking out her lunch bag and school items to be reviewed. Now, I'm so glad to be a part of Hire and Fire your Kids! My child actually will do her daily routines with minimal reminders. She likes the chore chart that allows her to select what she wants to accomplish as well as the parents suggestions. I like the idea where if I don't want to give her money one month we like to change it up to an experience reward instead. As a parent I love the customization ability to make it our own"
Tracy - Mom of 1
"ABSOLUTELY LOVE the Hire and Fire Your Kids APP!!
My daughter is 11 and getting her to help around the house has been gruelling! She much prefers to be on her laptop and doesn’t give much thought to household responsibilities and chores. UNTIL NOW! I showed her the Hire and Fire Your Kids APP and she was suddenly raring to go! She spent an hour reading through jobs and asking me to add in other jobs. And she started doing them that same night. She loves being able to click the jobs as COMPLETED and see her earnings go up! And as a parent it’s not just about having help around the house it is about seeing the pride in my child’s eyes when she has accomplished a task and sees the earnings for it. The day before payday she goes into the app and looks for more jobs to do! LOL. She is working towards boarding a horse and this Hire and Fire Your Kids app is giving her motivation and inspiration to work towards her big goal. As a parent I absolutely love this app and highly recommend it to parents!!"
Liz Russell, Mom
I stumbled upon the Hire and Fire Your Kids app at a point in Covid-life where our household felt like it was spiraling out of control. My kids, ages 8 and 11, hadn’t set foot in a school in five months; we had lost all semblance of routine and structure; and my house was constantly littered with dishes, toys and clothing because we were hardly ever leaving it.
I tried regaining control with a chore list stuck to the fridge. That didn’t work, and neither did reminding or nagging my kids to do their chores. The only time chores were completed was when I got angry or threatened to take away their screen time, which was an awful system.
Enter Hire and Fire Your Kids (HFK), an app that motivates kids to do chores and meet behavior expectations through “recognition, reward and consequence.” In short, kids earn money for doing chores and following household rules and values. After showing them the app, my kids were excited about earning money in a way that felt fun, and I was excited to stop yelling at them to clean up or be nice to each other. We dove in....continue reading..
monique
Mom of 2
"Ever wonder what it would be like to have your kids willingly do their chores hassle free with no more nagging?
Every parent needs to check out Hire and Fire Your Kids! We are going on month 2 and the kids are still engaged and my stress level has dropped as our family is becoming more and more productive around the house. Can’t wait for the new app version!"
natalie
CEO WHITBY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
What a great entrepreneurial journey! Congratulations Jody on creating an app that takes the stress out of doing chores: for both parents and children. You've created something that instills taking responsibility, being part of a family through contribution and encouraging pride in your work = secret to success!
Mike
dad of 3
"A one of a kind idea that really works for families."
I have been looking for a system to keep our household organized with jobs and have always been hesitant to pay money for what I call "family contributions". With an open mind, I tried out Hire and Fire Your Kids and after using it for a few weeks have noticed some positive changes in our family.
We created expectations for jobs that are their regular contributions to our family and created new jobs that we are willing to pay for. Not only is this good for the kids, but it also holds me accountable to being consistent and it does most of the work for me, which makes it so much EASIER!
One of my favourite features are the warnings - this way I don't have verbally "nag" the kids - I simply take a photo of the situation along with some text and the kids get a notification on their device.
The kids have been fighting over a few of the jobs~something I never thought I would see!
Thank you, Hire and Fire Your Kids for working with families to create a system that finally works!
amanda gobatto
The idea is you have a family meetings and you sit around and you talk about it.
You share your family values and everybody is in agreement and that is what's
really important, so everybody knows where they stand.
