Lately we have been encouraging our kids to take more responsibility around the house. Now that I started working part-time (Did I not mention that? I’ve probably been too busy!), help is just what I need around here. Obviously, its important to give kids responsibilities for jobs around the home. Its not just to be helpful to busy parents, but teaching children to become cooperative members of a household is one of the best ways to teach them responsibility. And it is a vital step in developing caring, considerate adults.
I know this.
But it is seriously trying my patience. You have no idea.
I’m one of those people who usually just does things myself because I want it done “just so.” The dishes must be done immediately after dinner. The plates go here, the bowls go there, the cups go here and the coffee cups must go over there. So it is hard for me to sit at the table while a 8-year-old and 6-year-old load the dishwasher with GOOD HEAVENS a 3-year-old helping. Oh, you should see the way the kids load the dishwasher.
It makes me twitch. I am not kidding.
And, oh, the messes. The living room can be perfectly clean. I blink… and its trashed. And their rooms. THEIR ROOMS. LORD, HAVE MERCY. And who cleans it up? Me. But why? What is that teaching my kids? Now that the girls are in elementary school, its time to make their toys and their room their responsibility.
Hold me.
Their room is a great training ground for them to learn responsibility for their possessions. Learning to set the table, make a bed and run a vacuum cleaner are basic skills that are just as important as learning ABCs. If we continually clean up their messes, what are they learning? How is that helping them? And if I continually criticize the job they are doing, how will that encourage them to keep at it?
No. We need to let them do these chores on their own. And keep quiet.
We made up a chore chart and its been helping them keep up. The kids like seeing things checked off and it a good way to cut down on nagging. They know exactly what they need to do every day.
The Chore Chart has helped immensely! It is a clear way for them to know what is expected, for us to track what they are doing and for my husband and I to keep on track as well. There’s no power struggles, since the kids know exactly what is expected throughout the week.
And the best part of this whole thing (besides the learning responsibility thing)? Colin doesn’t want to be left out. He is following around his sisters, ‘helping’ them the way they used to ‘help’ us. So he’s learning how to do the dishes, clean up the kid’s bathroom and pick up his room by watching his sisters. Love it.
What are your tricks for dealing with chores and kids?
