Children and helping around the house.

Penelope_Penguin

Hi there! I believe it's never too young to start on this You could start with ensuring that they make their own beds, put their laundry into the wash, lay the table, wipe a sink, load the DW.

We have an existing thread so I'll add this so that you can browse answers there.

Penny. x

welshmaiden

i guess im really lucky on this one. i have an eleven year old son and to be honest id be lost without him. i also have an 18 month old baby and my older son is a huge help where the little one is concerned
for a boy he is very maternal in a way that you would expect from a girl when the little one was tiny he would offer to feed him (although he has never offered to do a nappy tee hee.) and sit and talk to him and play with him for hours. i often find him sleeping in the babies room and if the baby wakes up and cries in his room its my son usually gets to him first to sort him out either by talking to him or giveing him his dummy or he puts a dvd on for him to watch. if i want to do some house work then he doesnt complain about watching the little one or playing with him so that i can get on with it without worrying that my liveing room is being destroyed. although i did have to laugh one day when i was having a bath and i heard the eldest cry out in pain because the little one had hit him over the head with a toy and instead of loseing his temper when i managed to get out of the bath to see what had happened i founed the little one strapped into his highchair. tee hee ( i think he had had enough) also and this one is very surpriseing when we go into town im not allowed to push the pram my son takes over and wont give me pram back. he will push him for hours round the town or where ever we are going. he doesnt care if he sees his friends and isnt bothered about his street cred. as for my sons bedroom well thats another story it often looks like his version of tidying up is to throw a hand grenade in to stir it all around. tee hee. but i do have to say he is a wonderfull little man and im really proud of him and he is one of the nicest kindest souls ive ever met and most people who know him agree with that. although he does tire them out because of all his energy and his adhd

Olliebeak

Welshmaiden - your son sounds very much like my dgs (aged 7) who (we think) has asd (autism spectrum disorder).

He is wonderful with his baby sister (9mths) and will play with her for ages, push her pram absolutely anywhere and then dumps her in the baby-walker when he's had enough of her!

However, his untidiness is absolutely appalling - clothes get thrown anywhere, toys left lying around or in the back garden and his bedroom is a bomb-site. Anything that has 'bits' (such as lego) is just scattered around the place as he is incapable of playing with it unsupervised for more than 5 minutes (no attention span whatsoever!).

notenoughcash

I never really thought of myself giving the kids 'jobs' to do until I read the lists that some people have put on here and realised just how much they actually do!!

I have two sons aged 9 and 5 and my eldest is a god-send. I really don't know what I'd do without him sometimes. As for the 'jobs' they're given to do, I don't ever remember sitting them down and telling them what is expected of them, it's just like some sort of unwritten law in our house that was passed on from how my parents brought me up.

They are both expected to make their own beds each morning, open curtains, put any dirty washing in the basket, they each have a clock and know what time they should be washed and dressed by on both school days and weekends. This usually works really well unless they are distracted by something! My eldest also sorts cereal in a morning and washes the breakfast pots. They are allowed toys in the living room at weekends and school holidays as long as they are put away at the end of the day, if they are left out I remove them and keep them for a few days.

Their room is the only 'issue' I have with them really, but that's not very often. They do like to shove things under their beds sometimes rather than tidy them up but that is getting much rarer. If anything is left on the floor after they tell me they have tidied it's binned (or given the option of tidying away if something more valuable than a crayon or toy car) as if it isn't worth putting away they must no longer want it!!

On cleaning days they both help with dusting, hoovering, cleaning kitchen and bathroom. They both from being old enough to hold a cloth helped me clean. I remember them being very little and using a baby wipe to wipe the fridgefreezer or washing machine.

As far as I'm concerned it's your job as a parent to teach your children how to grow into responsible adults in every sense of the word and it's never too early to start.

Beccatje

I've got 4 girls living with us at this point in time.

Aged 15, 12, 10, 4.

They are expected to do the usual:
keep rooms tidy (hardly ever happens..)
put dirty clothes in bathroom,
tidy up what they've used etc..

They all help to set the table and clear it again after tea.
Then there is one child who has to do the 'kitchen'. Which means load dishwasher and clean worktops.
Another child has to wipe down the table.
I write on the weekplanner who does what when. It kind of rotates.

The littles is 4 and I help her do her chores. but want her to learn to pitch in as well. So she is included in the chores.

On occasion I'll ask one of them to help with the hoovering or do a little trip to the supermarket (around the corner) if I've forgotten something.

Oh and they have to take their clean folded clothes upstairs and put them away. My washing machine is downstairs and I fold everything and make stacks for each child on my lovely HUGE dining table. The kids then take it upstairs as I've got bad hips and can't walk up and down too many times.

They don't do all that much really, but they feel like they do!
the moans and groans...

"I always have to do EVERYTHING around here!!!"

:rotfl:

Becca

lucielle

I have 4 children (13,11,9 and 8) DS1 feeds hens and collects eggs also he cleans them out. He mows the lawns and likes cooking. They all put their own clothes away. Bedrooms are to be cleaned and hoovered, currently got a competition for tidiest bedroom and the winners will have a day out as a treat. DD2 has a cat she has to feed it and make sure the litter tray is clean. Any accidents she is responsible for. Any pots left after tea they take it in turns to wash up. They will help with the bathrooms and occasionally the ironing.
L