My kid is almost 4 and I think its time for her to start helping around the house because I feel like I'm spending my entire weekend cleaning up after her. I usually clean my house after class, but by the time she goes to bed, it's already pretty messy.
I was thinking of making a chore chart that she could mark off things on and giving her an allowance because we go to a drugstore across the street from her school on fridays and she buys a snack.
But I really don't know how much to assign her and what's appropriate. She could make her bed since it's just a small blanket... but I really don't care if her bed is made or not, you know? Also, a lot of the times she wants to help, it takes twice as long because I have to go behind her and redo everything. I'm really not sure what sort of things she could do on a daily basis.
I really want to start developing a sense of responsibility and knowledge that she lives in the household too, so she's also responsible for keeping it clean and tidy. I feel like if I wait until she's old enough to fold clothes and help with the dishes that she'll already be used to me doing everything for her. I'm wondering if I should just grit my teeth and accept the fact that it may take longer for awhile but I should just have her do things at her own pace.
So what do your kids do? What did you have to do when you were younger?
when we move i am going to have the kids do more chores- hopefully we are going to be planting a garden soon, so part of their daily chores will be garden work.
Z wants a puppy, so both kids will be responsible for keeping up with the pet (feeding walking taking it out to poop etc)
as far as house hold chores go, they usually just help me around the house when i am doing house work/cleaning. Unfortunately they are still young enough where when they try to help, they usually end up making more mess. Both kiddos really enjoy moping and sweeping.
Maybe you could get your kiddo some kid sized cleaning stuff
her job could be to pick up her toys, put her laundry away (clean laundry in the drawers and dirty laundry in the hamper. I think you should make her responsible at first for stuff that is completely hers. When I was like nine my "chore" was to clean my parents room and that made me really mad. We always had chores that were cleaning up after other people..
I agree that having her be responsible for her own things would be a good way to introduce the idea. Even if it takes longer while she's "helping", she's learning how to do it - and that's what'll teach her responsibility and lighten your load in the long run, so I'd really run with it when she offers to help.
Ian just turned 4. He loves to help but sometimes he can be a pain in the butt! His "chores" at home are:
- cleaning his room
-putting the toys in the living room up in the toy box.
-Putting his dishes in the sink
-dirty clothes in his basket
-when I do laundry for some reason a lot of the boys' clothes end up in our laundry. I fold all the clothes and seperate them as I go. Ian helps me put them in seperate piles for each person.
- I put all his shirts on hangers and fold the rest. Ian puts all of his clothes away. He gets a chair and hangs his shirts up and put all the rest of the clothes away in the right drawers.
- Oh and he holds the garbage bag when his picks up dog poop
He does really awesome! I figure as he gets older he can do more. Ian is very responsible for only 4. It's been in just the past month or 2 he started this. He loves to help. I figure he can do it so why not! It helps me. I just can't wait til he can do his own laundry and the dishes!!! I hate those ones the most!
Andrew puts dirty dishes in the sink.
Cleans up most of his toys.
Puts his dirty clothes in laundry.
Thats mostly it for now. Hes only 3
From the time H could walk I have had her clean up her toys.
Her chores since the age of 4 have been-
- Clean up all toys
- Clean up her room (when she had one, this included vacuuming)
-Clean up her bathroom(when she had one, now she is responsible for wiping out the sink with a spray bottle of water and dial soap)
-putting dirty clothes in the hamper
-putting away clean clothes
-putting her dog out to potty
She also likes to help with dishes. I cant wait for the day she hates dishes and I can assign the task :twisted:
Ever since Carson (who's now 3) could understand and do as I say (and knowing me I probably talked to him absently before he could) I've tried to instill the same sort of personal responsibility in him that you guys are going for.
He picks up his toys at the end of every day (and sometimes during the day when he's trying to earn brownie points lol).
He helps me separate his clean clothes from mine and puts his laundry away after I've folded.
He's developed a new love for my swiffer sweeper
and when I'm not feeling too rushed and stressed and can allow for possible broken dishes without a headache I let him sit in front of the sink and dry dishes for me.
I can't wait til he's old enough to do more though! There's never enough time in the day for cleaning!
thats about what Eric does also. He'll sometimes help me with putting away laundry too.
My 21 month old puts his toys away when he is done. I say "put your toys away", and I go in there, and his room is pretty much spotless. (He does have a toy box...so its just a matter of putting the toys in the box) He will take his cups, and dishes, and put them in the sink.....put clean laundry in his drawer, etc.
I also think that having a little kid take responsibility of their things is a good way to introduce "chores". I remember doing chores when I was three, but they were all pertaining to me.
-made my bed
-dirty clothes in the hamper
-clean clothes in the drawers
-clean my room; put away toys
-and I "helped" with dishes.
I didn't mind doing these things. They didn't seem like chores, it was just what we did (i was only 3 so yeah). I wasn't until I was older that I did things most for the household than myself.
Ya know I mostly started giving Ian "chores" because he wanted to help. But I've come to realize that having them do chores starting a young age, really teaches them to be neat and clean. I know it'll be good, cuz growing up we never had chores, my mom did it all. I'm like totally against cleaning. I have to force myself to clean or our house gets pretty dirty! :?
My kids are 6 and 5 they both do chores
they put away their toys
put the dirty clothes in the hamper
rinse their dirty dishes
help with the dishes
put their clean clothes away in the drawers
feed their pet rabbit
make their beds
help make lunches for school.
they also love helping to fold the washing like the socks and underwear
they get their own underwear and put it in a pile and make a game out of pairing up the socks they call it sock memory and they are always asking to "play" sock memory... :lol: Saves me doing it i hate folding the washing.
Gabriel's always had chores. When he was younger (2-4) he'd help out with the things I was doing, and now that he's getting a bit older (6 now) he has a lof of things he's expected to do. He probably has TOO MANY chores really, but growing up I didn't have a single one...and I remember the first place on my own being this disgusting mess and having to call people to figure out how to clean things, ahhh! So, I think he's better off learning now lol. I suppose being that it's just the two of us he's more involved in everything, as well.
His responsibilities are to unload the dishwasher (putting anything he can't reach on the counter), take out the trash, keeping his things put away (clothes, toys, school bag, etc.) although he often gets lots of help with that one! And he also cleans the toilet (sounds so cruel lol, but he strangely begs me to do that one, and who am I to say no?! haha). When I'm cleaning I'll often ask him for help as well, and I find the best way to get him to do chores is to do them together, and he also still needs constant reminders. Ah, that's right...he's also the official bug killer! lol
My daughter is 28 months old and when im doing the dirty washing, she'll move the wet clothes from the washing machine to the tumble dryer or the basket for me to take out to hang on the line....or when im out puttin washing out she will hand me the washing...she will also take her apple core or her rubbish to the bin.
She enjoys doing the washing with me and half the time i dont even ask her to take the rubbish out she just does it.
Maybe you could start with things like helping put the saucepans away when they have been washed up...or you could ask her to put her toys back in the box before she goes to bed.
I had chores when i was little like what ive said before...and i think its good to introduce responsibility. It did me no harm anyway lol
Also...making it fun is a great way to play games and get it done...i play peekaboo with the sheets when im hanging them out and stuff like that.
God luck :)
I meant good lol strange keyboard :roll:
i really like this idea. i have been pondering it with my two... so i think i am going to start doing chores... i told jaiden i would give her 2.00 a wk if she helps around the house... and i will give emma 1.00. so i guess i will wait and c what happens!