How young is too young to "fly"?

daysieblue

I was just looking at one of the other boards, and one of the threads was "How young is too young to fly".

Maybe it's an indication of how close I am to becoming OS that I thought they meant do the housework and tidy up after themselves!

Which leads me to think - How young IS too young to fly? At what age should our darlings be joining in the family contribution to house-proudness? Or in our case making it slightly less of a tip than usual!

What are your experiences / thoughts?

db xx

embb

I think they can start when they're toddling, I don't mean give them a cloth and the mop but try and encourage them to pick up their toys by making it a game etc. I once read in a book that 'if they're old enough to work a computer, then they're old enough to work the washing machine' so true!

Queenie

Years ago, in one of the Flylady emails there was an age appropriate chore list starting at age 2. Can’t find the original document, but some other websites have something silimar:0

http://familyfirst.net/parenting/chorelist.asp

http://www.printablechecklists.com/checklist11.shtml


All my children (ages 11 – 27yo’s) have had jobs to do of varying degrees as they have grown up; I also had regular tasks/jobs to do on the home front from the age of around 5yo, the only drawback was, my mother was very sexist about it! I got to stay in and clean the lounge windows, while my 4 older brothers were out playing on a Saturday :rolleyes:
Having 4 sons and 1 daughter myself, I made sure they *all* had jobs and that they were rotated between them. When my middle son moved into his own flat with his girlfriend and newborn, he was as capable (actually *more* so!) of running the house and coping than she was - he even thanked :rotfl:

If it's a natural development (ie: it's tidyup toy time now, then we can have tea/story/cuddles whatever; lets sort the washing into different colours/count how many socks for the wash; a shopping list made up product pictures so they can hunt for them) it shouldn't even be a chore to introduce it! It should become as much as 'routine' as cleaning their teeth/having their bath.

One fact is true: The longer you leave it before you introduce it, the more resistance you’ll get! Many parents don’t begin until their children start secondary school and wonder why their family aren’t keen to help

lil_me

https://www.chartjungle.com is also good for charts etc

My kids do help occasionally (6 and 8) but not a frequent thing. They help do their rooms, well sort of. DS2 (6) loves helping clean especially anything that involves wiping things like doors etc but only when he can be bothered.

cat64

Queenie, I sooo agree with you here - unfortunately I have left it too late with my four kids and now can't get them to lift a finger around the house - basically I feel like a domestic skivvy.

Wish I'd started sooner, the rebellion I meet now if I attempt to get them to do ANYTHING is just not worth the hassle, so I end up doing it all and then feeling really resentful, getting pretty close to walking out on them all somedays.

Oops sorry seem to have gone on a bit - it's good to vent :rotfl:

MAIN POINT BEING - START EM YOUNG!!

meanmarie

OMG Daisyblue...I thought the same as you did so maybe OS is taking over my life!

Very good idea to train children to help from the beginning...my two year old DGD2 will frequently ask 'can I help?' and unless allowed to do so will quickly stop asking to be involved. I must admit that I had one failure with my own family...my middle child DS2 was never interested and it was always some kind of battle or device to get him to do anything, never mind his share! At almost 33, he shares a house with his sister DD3 (27) and is driving her nuts...he will do the shopping if given a list, will not buy suits etc unless accompanied by one of his sisters and finds underwear and socks just too difficult, so asks them to buy them for him...no problem with payment! This is the one of my children with most letters after his name, in a job that pays about €25k more than any of the rest of the family, has lots of friends and is very popular with parents of those friends who have met him!

I have given up on getting him to organise his own life, but wonder what made him thus.

Marie

Plum_Pie

When I was growing up, there was no clear expectation of what we were supposed to do/how often. My dad said he didn't want us to be skivvies, but he also used to say how hard my mum worked. My mum was a bit passive-aggressive - doing it all, not delegating and then whingeing that we (my sis and I) were thoughtless. (We always helped when asked.)

Everyone knows that young 'uns need consistency - I hope when I have kids, I don't turn out to be a 'Do your chores on your chart or no supper for you, my lad'- type. I fear I might though!

Fly Lady has House Fairy for children though? Does anyone here use that?

csarina

My children all started 'helping' from the age of 2. I rememebr my mother in law being horrified when my two youngsters got up from the tea table and washed and dried up.........she was almost incandescent with rage, said I was exploiting my children....it gave me a great deal of satisfaction to reply that if she had explioted her son he might pick up his dirty clothing and put it in the laundry basket in stead of leaving it on the floor for me to pick up....:eek: :eek: I cured him, just kept kicking it under the bed, when he ran out of clean clothes I told him, put it in the basket and I'll wash it.........otherwise it stays as it is:D .............interestingly he started picking his stuff up.....

All my children were encouraged to pick up their toys, etc and as they got older to keep their rooms tidy, at 10 I started teaching them how to use the washer and at 12 to do their own ironing.....cook etc...........I am very proud of the fact that all of them are well able to take care of themselves......mind you at 47, 45, 39 and 37 I should think they can:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

beemuzed

My Mum has always said that with four of us it was much quicker to do things herself that wait for one of us to do it - and then have to do it again properly. Methinks there lies part of the problem - she clearly expected her own high standards and kids don't do that first off! She's since told me that I always said I'd be rich enough to pay for someone to do my housework for me! Oh well, can't get it all right!
With my own two it was sometimes easier to just do it - but I tried to grit my teeth and be grateful for all help offered! Must say, my son can clean a room far better than me when he puts his mind to it! And DH ensured that both boys grew up with a love of cooking.
I think littlies do like to do bits - and ought always to be encouraged!

evilwitch

My 14 month old wipes the table after she's finsihed eating. She also picks her bricks up and puts them back in the tub without wanting to tip them back out.


sure it won't last though:D

Pink.

Hi daysieblue,

This older thread might interest you:

Children and helping around the house.

I'll merge both threads together later to keep all the ideas together.

Pink