Children and helping around the house.

Jet

I have an 8 year old son who I am thinking should be doing a bit around the house apart from the occassional laying of the table or fetching things for me.

I'm interested in what other people get their children to do around the house.

liz.._4

just about everything I can get away with! Use sibling competition, see who can do it the best/fastest/cleanest etc...
I get them to join in mainly and we do it together...just deleted a pile of socks that neeeded pairing up with this method

gingin_2

My 6 and a half year old is expected to help around the house, I really believe if he starts now he will be more likely to continue to do so in the future.

Saturdays are our cleaning days and I do each room top to bottom. My children (even my 2 year old) have a cloth each and wipe down cupboards, help clean the bathrooms, the kitchen and he has just started using the hoover (which he loves). My son is expected to keep his bedroom tidy and put his washed clothes in the cupboard and to load his plate in the dishwasher after meals. They also put all of their toys away at the end of the day.

It sounds like a boot camp to read it backbut really it's not. We do it all together with the music on and then ususally go and do something fun afterwards. He gets £2 pocket money in total but £1 of that is only for if he has helped with jobs around the house.

gingin_2

liz.. wrote:

just about everything I can get away with! Use sibling competition, see who can do it the best/fastest/cleanest etc...
I get them to join in mainly and we do it together...just deleted a pile of socks that neeeded pairing up with this method

Yep! we have a tidying up race at the end of the day. It's amazing how quickly the toys can get put away and how mum always loses!

wigginsmum

Washing-up, doing and putting away laundry, gardening, dusting, hoovering. Basically anything we do apart from emptying the litter tray.

It's not yet got to the point where they'll do it unprompted so I just dish out chores to them and DH.

Littlemiss-lotsofdebt

As kids we were all expected to keep our rooms tidy, wash up, dust and hoover. As the girls got to around 13, we took on our own ironing - although somehow the boys never had to do this :mad:

Our parents both worked full time, long hours and although we probably begrudged it at the time, it certainly didn't do us any harm and we got pocket money for it. :money:

lynsayjane

when my sister and i were in high school we did pretty much all mums cleaning for her! i did the kitchen and hallway, my sister did the bathroom and living room, that way we both had a 'proper clean' room and a hoover/dust room. we were obviously resposible for our shared room, hence why it was always a mess, my sis is a slob! and mum did her own bedroom.

we both got ten pounds a week pocket money. i vaguely remember asking for a clothing allowance once, but lord knows what happened to that idea. maybe if i had i wouldnt be a dfw now!

Kelinik

I was about to say I don't really get my (6 and 4 yr old) kids to help out but I do have rules about dirty washing getting put in the basket and plates, cups etc getting taken out to the kitchen so I guess that counts. Other than this they are responsible for keeping the playroom tidy which is how they earn their pennies. We have a sticker chart where by they get a sticker each at the end of each day that the toys have been put away. On a friday afternoon each sticker is worth 5p.

Pooky

My 8 and 10 year olds are expected to do the following as standard....

Bring out used cups/plates,
Make their own beds,
Put all dirty laundry in the washing basket,
Take all their toys/belongings from the living room before bed and put away,
Put away their clean laundry/ironing,
Dust and hoover their own rooms,
One will wipe up and one will put away after tea,
They take it in turns in the morning to put a load of washing going before school,
They deal with all the recycling, compost heap trips etc
They have to strip their bed linen every friday and bring to the kitchen for washing,
They have to put their own clean fitted sheets on the bed on Friday evening (they've yet to master the duvet cover and pillow cases and have high beds that I can't reach to do the sheet on)
They take it in turns to help with dinner on a sunday, peeling veg, making batters etc.


Sounds quite a lot when I list it like that but I'm determined that they learn what's needed before they leave home - my mother did everything for me and I was shocked on my first week of living in my own flat how quickly everything got dirty and messed up - cooking took me years to master too.

The girls get £2 and £1 respectivly for their pocket money per week - I do ask the elder one to do a bit more in the way of laying the table and sorting the ironing etc to make it seem like she's doing more for her money.

QueenB.

All my children have always had some chores to do. Since they where able they have always had to put their toys away and pick up after themselves, as well as all rubbish in a bin or given to someone to put in a bin.

Now they are 5, 7 and nearly 14 and aside from general house rules, like tidying, plates to sink turning of lights etc, they all also have their own chores, the two youngest make their own beds, help put their own clothes away and set the table as well as taking it in turns to feed the cats biscuits.

The eldest does all the dishes, keeps her room clean inc hoovering it etc and helps clean the bathroom.

If they are off as they are now then they help me with all the chores, the dusting, brushing the floors, mopping and washing and so on.

We also all do weeding and garden work.

I do not pay them as in my opinion we all make the mess so we should all help clean it, plus it teaches them about responsibility, respect and i see it as part of the process of making them independent and able to look after themselves well when they leave home. However they always get praise and a thank you and the two youngest get reward stickers to add to their chart.

Doing chores has always been part of my childrens life and they tend to enjoy it especially when they are young, it can give them a real sense of achievement. We get it out of the way as early as possible so that we can then just enjoy the rest of the day.

FrugalJo

My two sons aged 9 and 12 clean/hoover their rooms, lay the table/clear away, washing usually on top of the basket rather than it in, always using protests and delay tactics but they do do it. Although given cloths and spray guns of diluted antibac they will do the a good job in the kitchen on the fridge, worktops etc.
My reverse psycology (sp?)no longer works on my 12 year old though lol !
( My youngest however is an excellent cook and it's not seen as a chore, really trying to encourage it and our ice cream is setting the fridge as I type.)
I remember washing up at 10 and ironing at 11.