Kids' chores ?
 

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?

Re: Kids' chores ?
 

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.

Re: Kids' chores ?
 

Who? I demand to know who that was. :rofl:

Re: Kids' chores ?
 

His first name is Victor...

Re: Kids' chores ?
 

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"?

Re: Kids' chores ?
 

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.

Re: Kids' chores ?
 

Care to share with us your own experience?


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Re: Kids' chores ?
 

Nope.

I did say that sometimes some things are quicker without 'help' :nod: 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)

Re: Kids' chores ?
 

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.

Re: Kids' chores ?
 

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).

Re: Kids' chores ?
 

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

Re: Kids' chores ?
 

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.

Re: Kids' chores ?
 

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!!!

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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. :lol:

Re: Kids' chores ?
 

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:o. 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!

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Haha. My oldest two are 25 and 23. Can't imagine being able to get them to do something they don't want to!

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Maybe give them an ultimatum, it's graduate school or independence? What about one of them year Commonwealth visas? Aren't they good for a couple of years?

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On the odd occasion when I have asked my twelve year old to empty the dishwasher, he's done so without complaint, but 'without enthusiasm' either. No other demands have been placed, but Bristol's experience is making me think twice. He has been taught to not leave clothes on the floor. Very impressed with the responsibilities of some of BE-mini's are making in their household. Food for thought.

Re: Kids' chores ?
 

I imagine some will assume once you "get it right" bringing up kids in this particular respect, then it will remain so, rules established and all that.

Despite being one of four brothers all brought up the same way and each of us being very different, I would still have believed that with "my" two stepkids. But...

Having their grandmother coming to live with us, one starting work and still working, while the other worked for a short time a few years ago, but not since, changes things. As does losing their mum and having the iron fist replaced with my velvet glove. :nod:

Re: Kids' chores ?
 

This^

They have a pretty full schedule of activities/paid work, homework/instrument practice. I'm not someone who likes being tied to a routine of housework, so if I don't feel like doing something straight away then tomorrow will do. I certainly don't want to make sure 2 or 3 other people are sticking to some sort of list of obligations.

I remember feeling absolute resentment when drying dishes (dirty dishes made me want to throw up so my sister always washed) when I was a kid. Obviously I now know this feeling was completely unjustified, but it was how I felt at the time. As a result I don't enforce chores in a set pattern, but they help when asked, without resentment.

As a result they are probably less competent domestically competent than I would have been at their age, but they'll learn when they have to. None of it is rocket science after all.

My only bug bears are clothes on the floor, and their steadfast belief in the magical capability of the dishwasher to load itself with items left in its approximate vicinity.

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Love the idea that anyone might empty a dishwasher with enthusiasm. :rofl:

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And the excuse for that is?

Re: Kids' chores ?
 

All this pretty much sums up my mentality too.

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How best to describe it....there are leftovers from learning difficulties and ADHD as a child.

Needs something like UK's New Deal but there is little of that here (he's had what there is) unless there's financial support that they try to get you off, but he's not on any kind of financial support.

In the absence of anything like New Deal, he applies for jobs and that's as far as it gets.

Has done kitchen work - considered too slow, pizza dough making but laid off when the place closed, did temporary work on credit card activation.

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Fair enough

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I put a "waking up" and "going to bed" list up. When my son has to run up the stairs three times to do 3 chores I point out that's what the list is for.

On the other hand I've also been teaching them Critical Path Analysis to improve our Alrm Clock -> departure time. So you can't blame the kids for everything.

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At our mum's we were told to leave our clothes on the bedroom floor and not to stuff them into the closet.

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My three have jobs to do.. the oldest two get pocket money for certain jobs. The eldest 11 sorts the recycling out and puts it out on bin day, the middle feeds the dog. That's their pocket money jobs.

They also have household jobs, bedrooms tidy, lay the table for dinner and clear up after, dishwasher (youngest loves doing it, he's 2) and put their own clothes away.

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My sister did all of hers growing up. I was too busy with school work so had few to do since it took away from school work.

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Nah, my reason is that I'm just irresponsible.

Thinking about it I did do the dishes most days, mowed the lawn sometimes, walked the dog often, cooked dinner, went to work with my dad quite often, cleared up, dusted, vacuumed. They weren't paid chores or specifically allocated to one person, it was just what we did.

Re: Kids' chores ?
 

When I was a kid my brother and I did everything. From looking after the littlest kids from babies to washing down walls at the weekend we did the lot. Washing up, cooking dinner, laundry, ironing, dusting, hoovering, cleaning the bathroom etc. Sometimes my mother would happily tell my friends when they knocked on the door that "no we cannot come out to play as we are busy" and would "lovingly" break the news to me on a weekend that "No I cannot go out and ride" the pony I leased from the farmer in the pony club team event that i was signed up to "because I had work to do". It didnt take long to be dropped from the team as I was a woefully unreliable member.
My mother worked more than full time as a nurse and my step father was a lazy ass. My mother was straight out of the 1950's :(


In our house my girls who are 12 and 9 empty the dishwasher and clean their bedrooms. They also have the feed the pets (dogs and cat) and set and clear the table. Thats it.


My mother suggested not that long ago that my oldest should be able to iron by now. That was shot down by me, I want my children to have a childhood. I dont want my children to hate me with the intensity that I loathed my parents...

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Howefamily if it is any help my older boys seem to have turned out alright. Lol. Their job was the dishwasher and their bedrooms.
You're on the right track 😘😍😏

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Sounds like the relationship between me and my mum :)

+1
This is how it is in our house. If something needs helping with, we help. If I make a late night snack after everyone's went to bed, I clean up after it before I go up.

I'm a bit of a clean freak so clean room's never been a problem.

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Thank you 😚