Trust But Verify writes down what done means, checks the shared reminders list to see whether it happened, and sends the text itself. Your kid gets the nudge. The consequence everyone agreed to on Sunday gets said out loud. You did not have to do either one.
The automation runs on iPhone, using Apple Shortcuts and a shared family reminders list. The printables work on any device.
Nobody typed either message. The shortcut read the shared reminders list, saw the chore was not checked off, and sent what the family already agreed to.
Wiping a counter takes ninety seconds. What takes all week is the part nobody sees.
None of that shows up on a chore chart. All of it still has to happen.
Anyone who has run a project knows the shape. A task has an owner, a due time, and a follow up. Take away any one of the three and the work drifts back to whoever notices first.
Chores usually get the first two. Someone is assigned and the day is known. The follow up lives in a parent's head, which means a parent is the follow up, and has to show up every single day to be it.
Trust But Verify puts the third thing in the system. What done means is written down once, so it stops being argued about. The check happens on a shared list, not in a hallway. The follow up is a text that sends itself, at a time you picked, saying what the family already agreed. Your phone does the tracking. You do the part that needs a parent.
Every chore has a done means done checklist across three age tiers. A six year old and a thirteen year old can both close the kitchen. What closed means is different, and now it is written down instead of argued about.
Chores live in a shared family reminders list. Your kid marks it done. That is the record. Not your memory, not their word, not a negotiation in the hallway about whether it happened.
At the time you set, a shortcut reads the shared list. If the chore is still open, the text goes out. It reminds your kid, and it names the consequence the whole family agreed to on Sunday. If the chore is done, nothing happens and nobody hears from anyone.
The consequence is the part most people ask about. You all agreed to it on Sunday, when nobody was upset. It shows up as a text, so you are not the one saying it out loud and you are not the one who has to be the bad guy. The house just runs.
This is the piece the automation stands on. If nobody agreed what done means, no text is going to fix it.
Every item is editable in your browser before you print. Rename chores, change the standard, match what your house actually calls things.
Reads your shared reminders list at the time you choose. If the chore is still open, it sends the reminder and names the agreed consequence. If it is done, it stays quiet. Installs from a link, with a walkthrough.
How to build the family reminders list, get every kid on it, and connect it to the shortcut. Written for people who have never opened Shortcuts before.
Ready to use wording for the reminder and the consequence text, in a tone that stays calm even when the chore did not get done.
Eight pre filled chores down the side, days across the top. Write in who has what. Rename, add, or remove any chore.
All eight chores across three age tiers, with a dual initial line on every one. This is what ends the argument.
On time, late, or missed, marked as the week goes. A weekly score column, so Sunday has something to look at instead of memory.
Ten minutes: review the tracker, take dinner input, confirm next week, and one slot to renegotiate something. Structured so it stays ten minutes.
Word for word, how to introduce this without a mutiny. Includes the four objections kids raise and what to say to each one.
Rewards and consequences agreed in advance, with signature lines for everyone. This is what the text is quoting when it goes out.
There is no Android version. If your family is not on iPhone, the printable system still works on its own, and you should know that before you buy.
Chores live in a shared family reminders list. When your kid marks the reminder complete, the shortcut sees it and stays quiet. If it is still open at the time you set, the text goes out. The list is the source of truth, so nobody has to remember, and nobody has to be believed.
The automation will not run. There is no Android version. The printable system works on its own and plenty of families use it that way, but the follow up is the reason most people buy this, so consider it carefully.
Yes. The shortcut installs from a link and the setup guide is written for someone who has never opened the app. It takes about twenty minutes, once.
You open them in your browser, edit anything you want to change, and print from there. Nothing to download, no software, no app. Print once, or reprint the weekly pages every Sunday.
It reads as a reminder of something everyone already agreed to. That is the point. You set the consequence together on Sunday, so the text is just repeating what you decided.
Yes. The grid, the tracker, and the shortcut all work with one name. The age tiers matter more than the number of kids.
The Automation Kit runs the house: the calendar, the morning text, the shared lists, the before you leave list. Trust But Verify runs the follow up on the people in it. Different jobs. They read the same shared list, and they are both in the bundle.
“I came across this at 1:46 am. I have been up for the last two hours, my brain on replay of what needs to get done, who has to go where and do what. This will be like my pocket assistant, giving me room to breathe.”
The automation needs an iPhone, the Shortcuts app, and a shared family reminders list. The printables work anywhere.
Trust But Verify automates the people in your house, the Automation Kit automates the house, and the Playbook shows you how to set up templates to take off the mental load.