What age to start children washing up?

ema_o

Rather than having a rota you could make them take turns - they will remember between themselves whose turn it is!

I remember having to stand on a chair to wash up so I must have been pretty young, def under 12!

ginvzt

We had to do different chores at home:

Me - wash the dishes (all the time, if mum comes home and finds a teaspoon in the sink I will be told of, hence I hate washing dishes so much - dishwasher is a necessity for me).
My brother - hoover rooms
My sister - take out the rubbish

Dishwasher can be moneysaving, the newer models use less thatn12 litres of water to wash the load. And I don't agree with not rinsing the dishes when washing them in the bowl!

Pee

I think a dishwasher could be moneysaving...

zippychick

Pee wrote: »

I think a dishwasher could be moneysaving...

Genuinely could be - I have no idea?! I suppose it depends on how you wash your dishes by hand and how economical you are? But the initial cost isn't moneysaving - that's what I meant?

I just don't like the things

jemimapd3

my little girls are 3 and 4 they wash and dry (and drop occasionally... ) no sharps though.

My littlest also wears her cinderella dress constantly and insists on being called the same......i dont know weather to laugh at her or be worried lol xxxx

pinksleepybear

MrsE wrote: »

Can you fit in a dishwasher?

If you can, get one & save lots of family agro.

I always thought a washing machine necessary, a dryer nice & a dishwasher a luxury.

If one had to go now it would be the dryer!

I don't like dishwashers, not only do we not have space, but I find it takes just as long to load/unload as to wash by hand. Also, they're bad news from an environmental point of view. The kids' mum has a dishwasher and she struggles to get them to load that, so think we'd still have the same level of agro!

suki1964

MrsE wrote: »

Can you fit in a dishwasher?

If you can, get one & save lots of family agro.

I always thought a washing machine necessary, a dryer nice & a dishwasher a luxury.

If one had to go now it would be the dryer!

And although I agree that many see a dishwasher as a necessity and I wouldn't judge anyone for choosing to have one, what would concern me here is how is that teaching a child to take responsibility for themselves and their mess and how is it teaching a child to wash up?

Or will that be the next thing - a generation of school leavers not only not knowing where their food comes from, not knowing how to cook it, not knowing how to use a knife and fork and now not knowing how to wash a dish?

( a bit extreme I know but surely us parents have to teach our children home-making skills)

Katie-Kat-Kins

Wow when I opened this thread I expected the OP to have kids in the 6-8 range....... 12 is old enough to just about all household chores!!!

Kids should start washing up before they start school! Washing up was my favourite "game" when I was about 3,* we have a photo of my and my friend from nursrey standing on chairs washing up. Obviously fairly unbreakable sorts of things but it was fairly useful........

I can remember doing washing up for some reason at school in juniors (7-11) I think it was probably a perk something that the moniters got to do and I think we were washing up staff mugs but I couldn't swear to that.

I also remember that washing up was one of the tasks that we had to do for our brownie badge (in fact more than one) we did all the washing up on brownie camp (I guess sharpe knives were removed) and were always expected to wash up any cooking equipment or art equipment.

On that basis around age 7 they should be washing up supervised (removing sharpe things or things that they might find difficult like heavy dishes or fragile glasses) and by secondary school they should be taking their turn with the rest of the family.



*must tell DH that, he'll find it hilarious, I hate washing up!!!

galvanizersbaby

My 2 do washing up at weekends - we do cooking together on a Saturday (DS 6 and DD 5)

DD enjoys it as she sees it as a grown-up job and DS will take his turn somewhat less enthusiastically and I usually find a shoddy job and water everywhere :rolleyes:

If they are old enough to be helping themselves to their own food especially cooking it I would say they should be washing up after themselves!

HalfPint

All my kids do the washing up except my 3 year old, who helps by clearing the table and putting rubbish in the bin. The others are 12, 11 and 8 and not only do they wash-up, dry and put away (including sharps!) they also know how to do most other household chores. The elder 2 have only just starting learning to iron but they can all hoover, dust, clean the loo, put the washing machine on, fold up clothes & put away etc etc etc. Even the little one likes helping to dust (though I go through a lot of polish when he does!) and can empty the bins.

With 6 of us plus 1 dog & a cat living in a 2 bed flat, we all have to chip in and help do our bit. Children are never too young to start helping around the house in some way, it makes for a happy household, less stressed parents and teaches them to look after themselves!

HP x