Shard

What kind chores do you assign your kids (if any) and at what age? Yes, this thread is 'inspired' by another members griping on another thread, although it occurred to me that my kid also does not yet have any chores assigned. Does it depend of the kid or the parents? Do Canadian kids do more chores than Brits?

Almost Canadian

They take feed out to the horses (only required in the winter but usually done in the cold and in the dark and is physically demanding), take food and water out to the chickens and collect any eggs. Clear the pathways around our house and clear the drive of any snow (they have the choice of using a tractor, a snowblower, a quad or a shovel to achieve this). Clear the table after meals and load and unload dishwasher. Keep their rooms clean.

They have had to do all of the above since we moved to the acreage 4 and a bit years ago. Any "missing" of any of the above, results in more chores being added to "compensate." They are 17 and 14 now, when we lived in the city they had other chores which, for the most part, didn't involve animals, although they did have to walk the dogs each day and clean up after them.

I couldn't put up with the apparent laziness referred to in the thread to which I believe you refer. As I have stated many times before, I believe in personal responsibility and, if my kids don't pull some of their own weight, they don't receive any luxuries at all.

We have always told them that, if they are not in school after the age of 18, they will either pay us rent and a contribution towards the food they eat, or they will go hungry and can sleep in the Quonset.

BristolUK

Who? I demand to know who that was.

Shard

His first name is Victor...

not2old

wasn't it you Bristol that once posted - along the lines of ... "it's better to do it myself than ask or wait for the kids to do it" with a " well they'd be tired, school, work etc"?

HGerchikov

Ours had some chores from quite a young age, started with collecting and sorting the garbage and putting it out for collection. As they got stronger, snow removal became their job if they were around when it needed to be removed (and they got quite inventive about not being). Also there was an expectation that they would earn money themselves for non essential 'toys' like i-pads and fancy laptops. We would get them anything they needed, but if they wanted the most fashionable version then they made up the difference themselves. For example, Walmart sells perfectly functional training shoes, but if they wanted the designer name of the moment then we would give them the money for the Walmart pair and the rest they had to earn.
Apart from garbage and snow, no specific chores but they were expected to pitch in as and when required. The youngest one went through a phase of enjoying housework so he did all of it for a while, tragically he grew out of it.

not2old

Care to share with us your own experience?


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BristolUK

Nope.

I did say that sometimes some things are quicker without 'help' More to do with arguing, not listening etc than anything else.

Before I arrived on the scene these two had their things to do when they were just with mum and her parents - help with snow clearing, carrying the groceries up the stairs, laundry.

The kind of thing I did as a child and did extra approaching family holiday time for spending money.

It continued when the four of us moved away from her parents to here. (Except it's a house so no stairs to carry groceries up)

Tootlepootle

My 9yr old makes her own lunches, puts her laundry away, tidies her own bedroom and playroom. She cleans out her own lunch box and packs/unpacks her school bag
It is her job to monitor the loo roll in all the bathrooms, she feeds the cats and dogs on occasion.
She helped with snow removal and if she is in dire need of cash will clear the dog poop in the garden!!
Most of it is taking responsibility for her own stuff, but a few general jobs as well.

Greenhill

The chore lists on the fridge roughly state:

Empty/fill dishwasher every 2nd day
Dusting/vacuuming 1-2 times each week
Feed/water dog daily
Clean bedroom once per week
Maintain clear floors at all times
Wipe tables/counters as required
Get own laundry started

The reality is that the dishwasher and dog chores are usually done. The others usually require reminders (but still battling to maintain sock free floors). Meals and snacks are sometimes made without request (nicely seasoned striploin, salad and fries the other day was a welcome surprise). Occasional snow shoveling without complaint.

Putting this into context, we're talking about a demanding 13 year old girl that's been on a zero-punishment regime for about the last 3 years. She also has some pretty intensive extracurricular sport type activities, which are 1-3 hours, 5 days each week.

She currently gets a flat rate of $90 per month for the chores (so roughly $3 per day).

Oink

Chores? What are you living on a 19th century wild west ranch?

bats

We had jobs to do around the house. My brother did his diligently, i don't remember mine so I guess I didnt do them.

DandNHill

It's always a battle in our house. Two sons have moved out and we were forever banning them from the internet to get them to do simple things like fill/empty the dishwasher.
Now the two youngest sons get to do it.
I'm bored of nagging though so occasionally I do it and then hubby gets upset with me.
I CAN'T WIN!!!

BristolUK

It's wearying. It's been a tough couple of years and I don't have the energy. They're 24 & 26 now so it's not like I can banish an offender to a room without supper.

MillieF

Gosh....would you like a chid swap? My son is 16 and bloody fantastic actually, but never does a thing that I ask him to...but lots that I don't! I did everything that my mother demanded, I had to. We were a very unhappy bunch... My child is lazy, deaf to my demands, but we like each other...I am happy with that scenario...I think it will work in the long term. Every family is, thankfully, different. I never pay cash for anything carried out at home...

P.s. I've searched the thread for Victor, and had a look through Canada...can you give us another clue? I tend to fall asleep before I've mastered Europe and the rest of the world! Help!