I think that you should decide specifically what his responsibilities are going to be. Then make him a checklist of these duties. These should be the "You have to do these" type duties so for example if you want him to clean up after breakfast then say that and specify WHAT that means. Clean up the table and wipe it clean, scrape the dishes and rinse them, load them in the dishwasher. etc. And do this for his duties for the full day. Let him know that if any duties involve him leaving the children and you are already out of the room (such as taking out the trash) than he can find something else on the checklist to do until you return etc.

You can type it up and put the list inside a plastic sheet and stick it to the refrigerator and leave a wipe off marker nearby and throughout the day he can look at it and check the stuff that he's done. You can even add extra lines at the bottom so you can quickly write in any extra duties you want him to do.

It doesnt have to be an akward conversation. Just a simple "Oh hey, I made a checklist of the things that you have to get done in a day. Make sure that you do them all before you go home each day and mark them off. Throughout the day I'll check the list and if you get done quickly and need more things to do you can let me know"

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