Household Chores for Children
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Hi, Can someone give me advise for when to start giving the kids chores around the house and just some general advice for this?(ie. what chores and reward systems etc)
I would start them off with something simple like putting their toys away. Then progress to things like folding their clothes and putting them away, tidying their rooms, making their beds. Make it sound like they are helping mummy and make it appealing, "if you help mummy we can get it done twice as fast and will have more time to play" in terms of a reward chart you can download them from the Internet or make one yourself. For every chore they do they get a tick or a star or a sticker etc and when they have done a certain amount they get a treat. It could be an extra episode if their favourite TV show, a day out somewhere, a friend to sleep over or you could give them money for each chore and save it up for them and every so often they get to spend it on a new toy or a book or whatever else they might fancy.
Making their beds every morning is a good start and helps to be disciplined.
Monday to friday on fridge with name every day the finish there chores the get a star if all 7 are there at the end of the week the get a gift of there choice with a price limit always worked for me
depends if you want your children to end up like they have been through military school ..or a Rudolf Steiner school........he in case havent heard of him is about the opposite ,
resentment seeds take a while to grow , but once shooted are not easy to deal with later ,
every action or non action have later reactions.....so imo early measures are vital ,
personally , i will give my children everything i can , SO LONG , as its appreicated ..when that respect isnt there , i hold back and make them earn it .......and try to explain that
i.e ..its possible to achieve anything you want to , if you want it bad enough ,
i think its impossible to get it exactly right , but so long as you have tried your best , so later they know that too ..so not to hold issues against you ..thats the best you can do ,
by far turning out loving , well rounded children is a full time and difficult task ..but very rewarding and worthwhile obligation
Was made to do household chores from an early age. Rewards?? Was never given any, as was always told it was part if the duties of living in a family. I hated them but it instilled a sense of discipline
Good luck with that, I've been trying for years to get the kids to help, they won't even wash a breakfast bowl after them as it means they'll need to put their phones down for a couple of minutes.
I can't believe how many parents reward children for doing a few simple chores. Surely none of us enter this world with the right to be waited on hand and foot and to spend our formative years living in a hotel. The clue is formative years.......when a child learns about life and what is expected of them to get through that life.
How many times do we see articles about uni students living in squalour, not knowing how to cook or clean or even change a light bulb? We do our kids no favours by not insisting on them helping in the home...their home.....their mess. Resentment is short lived once they realise that no one outside the family is going to give them an easy ride and if you can't get your kids to do the odd simple chores as they won't put their phones down.........well a wrong turn was taken way back.
Sorry if my views offend but I come from a different generation and believe well rounded adults grow from well rounded children who have not been indulged or had everything done for them.
I didn't get rewarded for chores either. I was expected to clean the bathroom and the bath/shower everytime I used it and if it wasn't good enough my mum made me do it again. Mum would come into my room, put the duster and polish down and tell me to get on with it. She would hoover the hallway, get to my door and pass the hoover over!
Mum was strange at times though. If you offered to help she would say no and then moan that no one helped her!
As the poster asked about rewards I put them up but I'm undecided whether I will use rewards with my wee one
MrsCraig Funny you should say that because I had a stepmother. She wasn't like the proverbial wicked one though, in fact when she died I was more devastated than when my dad died as he was very Victorian and never showed affection.
Anyway, mum used to make me give my room a thorough clean every Sunday morning and afterwards she would come in and inspect it, running her finger over the top of wardrobe and windowsill for dust etc, peering under the bed. I do remember feeling a bit miffed but at the end of the day, kids always feel hard done by and miffed when told to do anything, but if we give in and not make them we are not only making a rod for our own backs but for them as well.
A lot of my time was spent babysitting as they had 4 children and I was the only one from first marriage and lots older. They didn't gad around but with no car everything was a chore so I babysat while mum did simple things like shopping.
One thing I will always cherish is the discipline (with love) she instilled in me and when she died at only 63 I just remember how very grateful I was that she had given me siblings, the oldest of whom I am extremely close to even though we live 3 hours apart.
Even if we don't make kids do household chores I think it is important that they tidy their own space, pick up after themselves, put their washing in linen bin etc. At 17 I joined the WRNS and that was real discipline!
My sons are both in forties but very tidy and houseproud, they certainly do their share.
Lynibis Your stepmum sounds like a wonderful lady.
I still remember when I was at uni and lived on my own and my parents came to visit and I had spent ages cleaning to make sure it was up to my mums standards and she told me the shower wasn't clean enough! I was devastated!
My mum was the most loving person when I was young but she had rules and I knew what would happen if I didn't follow them. There was a kid running around a restaurant last time we went for dinner with my parents and my dad looked at me and said you would never have done that! Because mum had taught me how she wanted me to behave in public.
Kids needs rules, consequences. My son will be taught to tidy his room, pick up his toys, put his clothes in the laundry basket, fold and put his clothes away, help with the dishes when old enough and he will be taught how to cook. He will have a good rolemodel in his dad as my husband is amazing around the house! He cooks dinner every night, cleans the kitchen, does the hoovering, changes the bed, does the dishes. When we go to his mums house he does her dishes after dinner!
Parenting isn't supposed to be easy and kids are going to get upset and annoyed when asked to do something they don't want to, that doesn't mean you don't make them do it.
I never got rewarded for doing chores when i was young and i absolutely hated them. Ive never made my son do chores, hes 13 now and his only job is to keep his room clean but hes hopeless 
I deffo should if started him when he was younger 
My little girl is 18 months and she watches my cleaning routine every day, she loves helping me polish and hoover. She goes in her brothers room and closes his drawers and cupboards because she doesnt like them open either 
i was forced to do housework as a child and never rewarded for it i think its a good idea for rewards
Most good parents give a lot to their kids, birthdays, Xmas, treats, nice clothes, technology so it does not hurt for them to do a few jobs to show thanks and appreciation. As an adult they will not be rewarded for the things in life they have to do. Working for a salary is not the same.
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