Chores are an important task in the Clark household and one of the benefits about our children getting older is that they can pitch in more. Since most chores seem to fall in the lap of mommy, I am thrilled that chores haven’t lost their novelty yet and that my son loves to help mommy get things done around here.
Do I know that the novelty will wear off soon? Of course! I am going to enjoy it while it lasts.
Here are some reasons why chores are important in my house:
- I am grooming my child to someday be a self-sufficient adult. I don’t want my kid going to college and not knowing how to make himself/herself a sandwich, do a load of laundry, or have to be dependent on the people around them.
- I want my kids to know that we are a family unit and in a family unit, it is important for everyone to pitch in. Occasionally, I will hear my son say that he is “bored” with chores or “too tired” to help me out. That is tough luck in this house because everyone has to put forth an effort so that we can ALL enjoy having a clean and organized home.
- Chores are a great teaching opportunity. Sorting clothing by colors teaches your child to group colors together, folding clothing helps them build fine-motor skills, working at a fast pace (setting a timer for completing certain tasks) can be a fun way to exercise.
- I want my son to be a catch someday. Yeah, I am looking waaaaayyyy down the road, but that is sometimes in the back of my mind. What girl would not want to marry someone who knew how to wash his own laundry, could whip up a lovely dinner for her, or who picked up after himself? Those are attributes that would have been on my list when choosing a mate and I want my son to have those kind of attributes too…not only for himself, but for whoever he might end up with someday.
Here are what chores we do in our house:
- My son ( 5 yr old) has to get himself dressed in the morning, put his pajamas in his hamper, and make his bed before coming downstairs.
- He helps me prepare the evening meal and helps set the table for our dinner.
- Emily (2 yr old) & Ethan both have to help pick up their toys before they go to bed in the evening. We put on fast and crazy dance music, set the timer for ten minutes, and the whole family pitches in to pick up the playroom.
- On house cleaning day, Ethan is responsible for picking up his room for me to vacuum and dust it and he has to make sure the playroom is in order. We typically clean while my daughter lays down for her nap so this is a solo operation. I have moved my cleaning day to coincide with our Friday night family night. Basically, it is total bribery and we have to get the playroom picked up so that they can have a pizza and a movie with mommy and daddy. It works out really well.
- Ethan sorts our laundry. I line the hampers up and the baskets and he sorts the laundry for me. He also helps fold the laundry when I wash it.
Here is what I had to overcome in order for this to work in our house:
- Teaching chores is a tedious process, but it is worth the time and effort spent. It took him awhile to get the hang of sorting the loads so we would start with a “question” pile which saved us all time. If he didn’t know where something went, he would put that in a separate pile and we would talk about each item as we threw it in the correct basket.
- Things will not be done perfectly and I needed to get over that. When my son helps fold the laundry, it is not going to look like I folded the laundry, or like when I set the table, or have all the toys exactly where I would have put them. This is when you take your “mommy dearest” issues down a notch and enjoy being a mom and having someone to help you.
- I try to use our chore opportunities, not as a time to direct, but to talk with my kids. As we work on putting dinner together and setting the table, we talk about our day at school. It isn’t always this way, but I try to reserve this special time with them.
What chores do your children do and what are their ages?
Amy – thank you for the timely post. I’ve been struggling with chores. The kids have chore charts but my brain is mush most days so I forget. I have to get better about remembering. Each kid has 4 things they do each day (make bed, clean up toys before bed, feed an animal, and brush teeth). On some days they have laundry and I have them sort it, wash it, stick it in the dryer. At the end of the week they turn in their completed chore chart for their allowance. They do have extra things they help me with so they realize that they won’t always get paid for helping. But, we wanted to have REASON for their allowance instead of handing it to them. Again, thanks for the initiative reminder.
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Your post is a good reminder to me that the boys are old enough to start learning these things. (I have a 4-year-old and twin 2-year olds). Currently they do help pick up toys, and my 4-year old helps feed the dog. He also clears his plate from the dinner table. But they’re ready to take on more!
Great post!
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My daughter is almost three, and she has been helping me sort and put away laundry since she could walk. She even helps me by putting wet clothes into the dryer. She also helps me dust–I bought her her own Swiffer duster because she always wanted mine, and she keeps her toys picked up if I remind her to do so. She is eager to use the vacuum cleaner, but she’s too small. I tell her, “When you get bigger I’ll let you vacuum EVERYDAY!” lol
renee
yeloechikee at hotmail dot com
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A few months ago, we switched over to melamine dinner wear for all of our meals (except when entertaining guests). This makes me much more comfortable with having my 3 year old set and clear the table. She is responsible for picking up toys as well. There are things that she “helps” me with, like washing dishes and making beds. She also pulls laundry out of the washing machine (it’s a front loader), put is in a basket and pushes it to the front door. We don’t have a dryer so everything gets hung up outside. She is very good at folding her brother’s cloth diapers, too! My one year old sometimes helps with picking up toys but I don’t think he really knows what he is doing. He sees sister throwing stuff in a box and thinks that it looks like fun.
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Good for you! Too many parents do essentially everything for their kids! If you want to raise your children to become adults who take care of themselves and their community, give them chores and make them responsible for their belongings.
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I agree with pretty much everything you said about chores. My children are 10, 8 and 3. We have a good chore system going – not that my children never complain or don’t ever have to be reminded, but it works. I wrote some tips for chores here: Ways To Make Choretime Work
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I find it easier to get my younger kids to pitch in than my 14 year old. My 6 year old helps empty the dishwasher and put away his laundry. My 9 year old does this also. She has her own cat (because I knew she was responsible) and takes care of the cat 100% herself, with no reminders, litter box include. But my 14 year old son’s room looks like a bomb went off in it, and it is a constant battle. You sound like you have the right idea with your children!
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My son is 11, and has had chores as long as I can remember. These days, he gathers his dirty laundry and puts it in a basket, puts away his clean laundry, makes his bed, tidies his room, takes out the household garbage as needed, puts the cat food dishes on the counter to be washed, and vacuums under the kitchen table after dinner every night (because he’s the reason it needs it!). His belongings must be picked up from the main living areas of the house daily as well. On weekends he has extra duties-he vacuums the living room and hallways of the house and does any shredding of documents that need it. I do pay him for this, $1 per day, with a bonus of a quarter per day if he completes them within half an hour.
He’s a huge helper in the kitchen too, and I think he’ll learn to enjoy cooking as much as his father and I do-I don’t think he has any choice!
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My kids are 10 and 6, and theyve always loved helping me around the house, now I can actually assign them chores and they dont put up a fight!
My 10 yr old takes out the trash bags, and brings the cans in after garbage day. He also knows that when playing in the house with his friends, its his duty to clean up afterwards, which makes my living room extra clean!
My 6 yr old loves to fold laundry, ( just like Mommy! lol), so she picks out the towels and folds with me. And just tonight after dinner, she decided herself she was going to start helping me do the dishes!
I love these kids!
Jellibeenz1978@hotmail.com
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Hi Amy!
Let's see…the kids are now picking up their toys before bed but as well as after they play with them in the morning. They are 2 & 4. I'm teaching them to put their laundry in their dressers, albiet it haphazardly but they love it. Will the 4 year old likes to help unload the dishwasher by putting the silverware away. And he's been helpful with vacuuming crumbs out of the couch.
I too think it's an excellent idea for now as well as the future development of our children. Great post and thanks for sharing!
take care!
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