Roo helps me tidy away his toys at the end of each day, and so does Toby (to a degree) we keep it fun and play the ‘tidy up game’.
Both of my boys are a bit young at the moment to do too much, especially unsupervised and quite frankly it can cause more mess and take up more of my time if I do get them to do things to help me around the house, but when they are older I think it is a positive thing for children to help around the house.
At the moment, Reuben takes his own plate away from the dinner table and puts it on the side, he will from time to time help me wash the dishes, if he spills something I give him a cloth and he wipes it up, in the morning he helps me sweep up and I will sometimes let him mop too. These are all very simple and basic jobs, but we make them fun and he enjoys getting involved (in fact we have had many a temper tantrum from Toby recently because he isn’t allowed to get involved as he’s too little and just makes such a mess… dishes he does occasionally help me with, but he effectively gets in the sink… think more bath, less dishes!). On some of the parenting forums I have been on recently I have found that quite a lot of Mamas feel that ‘chores’ where the child is appointed doing dishes or appointed mopping the floor etc is a way of spoiling their childhood and something that should be an adult role, after all there is plenty of time to do that later on but we don’t get to enjoy all that much time as children.
What do you think? Do your children do ‘chores’?
As a busy Mama I often find that there are little chores around the house that simply don’t get done unless I have help (which I do, which I am eternally grateful for). When my boys are older and can do proper chores, I will have a chore rota, nothing fancy – this isn’t an opportunity for me to sit on my bottom and have a cup of tea while they clean around me like maids (I wish!) but it is an opportunity for them to grow up to understand the importance of respecting yours and others spaces and appreciating that what you have should be cared for and looked after.
I’d love to know what you do with your little ones and how you feel about the subject! Are their chores that are quite common that you don’t agree with children doing?
Harriet x
My girls are 4 and 6 and I am trying to get into the routine that before bed they have to tidy up their bedrooms! As they get older I will want them to help along the way. Not sure what yet but will get to it when it comes. x
Yes we’re trying the old “tidy up” pre bed – they prefer anything to doing that though! H x
My little one has been helping with chores since she was one, purely because she showed an interest. But she sees them as games and fun just like playing with her toys. We try and make them as fun as possible, singing while we do them or using them to learn things like counting or words or phrases. I think it’s good to get them to see that chores are apart of everyday life and they don’t necessarily need to be seen as boring. Sometimes doing chores can be more fun that playing with toys. xx
I think that’s the key Chloe, make it fun and it will come H x
Yes I think it is a good idea – it teaches responsibility and respect for everything that parents have to do around the house. My husband never had to do anything and then when he went to uni he was a complete slob haha
I agree Amanda – my hubs is actually quite good at tidying up, though he leaves a lot of it to me haha! H x
My 4 yr old doesn’t do chores as such, but I will ask her to lay the table or put her toys away to help me. I think it’s important that they know fairly young that they at least have to tidy up after themselves.
That is how we are Sarah. Not so much chores but more “tasks” to help out! H x
I certainly want my children to! They help with the laundry, sweeping and sorting their toys, but they are both only young. I’m all for chore charts when they’re little bit bigger x
Oh sorting toys is a bug bare in this house – they hate it! Hx
Growing up I was always asked to help out around the house or on the farm (as we were dairy farmers). I do believe looking back that it was the best thing for me, but it took me until I grown up to really feel the worth from it. x
Wow that is great Zoe – I love that you helped around the farm 🙂
Blake’s too little at the moment but when he is older I’ll be implementing it so that he can gain responsibility and skills that he will need in life.
That sounds just like us – Roo gets more tasks all the time, never anything major, just to help out! H x
Yes, it teaches them responsibility and life skills that they would otherwise not learn. Take it from me whose hubby didn’t know any of this because his parents never had him do any of this and he had 3 older sisters to do it for him. It is well worth it in the long run. It is our job as parents to prepare them for life with the life skills they need. I see to many kids who do not know how to cookie even basic microwave dinners in high school, this to me is wrong wrong wrong. How will they learn to eat healthy as adults if no one shows them. I start small with my kids when young helping with things like retrieving ingredients from cupboard / fridge for me while cooking. Then as they get older I have them help a little with prep then learn full blown how to cook with supervision. My 8yr old makes a mean lasagna I might add 😆 (with supervision of course)