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What chores do your kiddos have and when do they do them???


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My children at 7, 5 and 4. The do their laundry minus the folding. They empty the dishwasher for everything that goes below the counter. They wipe the table, set the table and sweep the floor. They tidy their own rooms and care for their pets. I clean the cages but they do the daily stuff. They also clean the bathrooms. Oddly that one they choose to do.:glare:

 

The daily stuff gets divied up by pulling sticks out of a cup. The other stuff gets done rotating throughout the week. It is often done first thing after breakfast that way we don't have to put more fun things on hold later in the day.

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The daily stuff gets divied up by pulling sticks out of a cup. The other stuff gets done rotating throughout the week. It is often done first thing after breakfast that way we don't have to put more fun things on hold later in the day.

 

cool idea! what do you have on your sticks?

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My 8yods uses the Swiffer to clean the floors, helps clear the table after meals, puts away laundry, puts away things the little kids left out, scrubs the bathtub, cleans windows and mirrors...

 

My 5yodd sets the table, helps clear the table after meals, cleans up her dolls and dressups, entertains the 2yo for me, puts her laundry away, wipes down tables and chairs, dusts...

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Aaron works with my husband and attends college. He also takes care of the lawn and anything else I need. He unloads the dishwasher, feeds the cats, cleans his room (which he is required to keep neat), cleans out the gutters, etc.

 

Nathan and Ben swap chores each month. They also vacuum when I need them to, fold and put away laundry, and clean up their own toys. Sometimes I have them unload the dishwasher.

 

Here are Nathan's and Ben's chore charts:

 

 

 

Nathan’s Responsibilities

 

 

 

 

Daily – Morning Daily -- Afternoon

Get dressed Piano practice

Make bed

Brush teeth

Litter box; give cats water

 

Monday

Clean bathroom sink and toilet

 

Tuesday

Clean bathroom floor

 

Wednesday

Vacuum sofa and recliner

 

Thursday

Windex hamster cage; dust bookshelf & entertainment center

 

Friday

Windex back and front doors

 

 

 

Ben’s Responsibilities

 

 

 

 

Daily -- Morning Daily -- Afternoon

Get dressed Piano practice

Make bed

Brush teeth

Sweep kitchen floor

 

Monday

Scrub bathtub

 

Tuesday

Windex back and front doors

 

Wednesday

Windex fronts of oven, dishwasher, washer and dryer

Bring trash cans back

 

Thursday

Clean bathroom sink and toilet

 

Friday

Sweep front walkway and deck

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Mine are 5 and 2. The five year old just recently started getting chores. And the 2 year old just helps clean up toys.

 

Daily, my five year old does the following:

 

dressed, brush teeth, comb hair (sometimes I have to follow behing the last two)

 

move her meal plates to the sink after eating, throw away any trash

 

feed/water dogs

 

feed fish

 

check bathroom trash cans....if full, bring it and dump into the big trash can and replace bags in little trash cans

 

clean up all toys nightly (little sister helps a bit with this)

 

load washer or switch clothes from washer to dryer when I ask her to

 

 

I'd like to add a few more chores in there throughout the week as well, but I havent come up with any yet.

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DS age 6 - wash, dry fold his own laundry, clean his bathroom, vacuum on occasion, wash sliding glass door, sweep patio, set table, help prepare food for meals

 

DS age 5 - wash, dry fold his own laundry, dust, wash sliding glass door, set table, help prepare food, sweep patio

 

Everyone helps put toys away and clean bedrooms every night before bedtime.

They usually have 1-2 chores a day, which are done right after schoolwork is done. That way they have all afternoon as free time.

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By age 6 my daughter could do, appropriately, any chore in the house. My son could by age 8. They each needed plenty of training and we worked together a lot and were encouraging but I felt it was necessary for them to be able but more importantly to have the benefits of working. In our home, it was "if you can walk, you can work." 1yr olds here do chores :) Of course, we try to make it enjoyable when kids are little :)

 

Anyway, my kids are 16 and 14 now and do every chore except my bedroom and bathroom unless I pay them. I also do the majority of the laundry. Of course, I also do odd jobs (cleaning oscillating fans or blinds or whatever) and help them also. But when I had to be away, they took care of things. If we died, they can run the house with minimal issue.

 

The way we've always done it is to have everyone work at the same time. If someone runs out of work when someone else is working, they find something else to do or ask if they can't find it on their own. We've done that since they were preschoolers. I LOVE it. Each person can help someone else and we can get things done FAST and together.

 

The other day, we had let things go a little (we're a little messier with the start if school and hubby being laid off...we are out of our groove). We had someone coming over to pick something up (an ad was put on craigslist). In 30 minutes, the house was spotless INCLUDING finishing a project we had been working on a couple days! YAY! We felt so accomplished.

 

Anyway, so we all work together. We started with the kids early though it would have been easier to do it myself. And all chores were learned in early childhood. The kids know they are contributing members of our family.

 

OH....and all chores MUST be done by 9am NO MATTER WHAT. If a man is down, the rest of us pick up the slack so it can still be done by 9am. It is usually completed by 7:30-8 though as the kids also want to get moving on other responsibilities, as do I.

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I like seeing what others have said - I think my 6 year old can help dust and my 4 year old can help clean windows and mirrors! I'll have to integrate that into our cleaning.

 

6 year old daughter:

put away laundry once folded

clear her dishes from the table

take drinks to the table

water the plants

clean the bathroom sinks (every other day)

collect garbage cans from around house on trash day

clean up and put away toys

clean up girls' bedroom

make up bed

 

4 year old son:

put away laundry once folded

clear his dishes from the table

take plates of food to the table

replenish toilet tissue supply in bathrooms

collect garbage cans from around house on trash day

clean up and put away toys

clean up his bedroom

make up bed

 

2 year old daughter:

help put away her laundry

clear her dishes from the table

set table with silverware (fear not! She doesn't put out the sharp knives for DH and me.)

clean up and put away toys

help clean up her room

make up bed (she's actually better at this than her older siblings!)

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We rotate monthly among kids 12, 10 and 8 the loading, unloading of dishwasher and setting and clearing the tables, wiping off counters,etc.

 

the 4 year old is an incredible table setter and is exceptional at breaking eggs, mixing, finding ingredients, etc. so we ask her to do these things whenever we can.

 

The 12 yo mows, blows and edges the lawn weekly. They take turns twice a week vacuuming, swiffering, and cleaning the bathrooms. I try to make the boys clean around the toilets as much as possible so they see how much "stuff" never makes it into the toilet.

 

They will all help sort laundry and will put away their clothes.

 

They all need to make their own beds, pick up their own rooms, and pick up after themselves. They take turns tidying the basement.

 

I don't know how I would keep house all by myself, I depend on the kids to do so much

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My kids are 16, 12, 10, and 10. Other than making their beds and getting their rooms tidy first thing in the morning, they have a 15-minute chore like sweeping the kitchen and sunroom, wiping up bathrooms, sweeper brooming the living area, etc. They rotate these through the week, Monday through Friday.

 

They also pick a chore from a bag that are things that need to get done once a month. There are 16 in there, so they each get one once a week. They have to have it done by Friday. It includes things like cleaning windows, baseboards, walls, etc.

 

We deep clean on the weekend and all have our own "area." It only takes us about an hour and a half all working together to clean a 3,200 square foot house.

 

My 16yo ds also helps with the mowing/yard work on the weekend.

 

My 23yo, who goes to college and works for my dh, just cleans up after himself and helps drop off/pick up people when he is available and I need him to. He also washes my SUV and my dh's truck on the weekend.

 

I do all the laundry twice a week. I fold and put it on their bed to be put away.

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My kids are 12, 11, 8, and 5. They are all in charge of cleaning up after themselves. Putting their own dishes in the sink/ dishwasher, cleaning bedroom, making bed, putting dirty clothes in hamper, putting their own laundry away, keeping their school shelves neat, wiping down the tub after bathing, wiping down the sink after teethbrushing, etc. Most of these are done on an as-needed basis or on Saturdays.

 

Assigned chores are:

12yo - clean all floors (sweeping, mopping vacuuming) when needed (at least once a day); she does not do my bedroom or the boys' bedroom, though; sh prefers to do this first thing in the a.m.

 

11yo - laundry; she washes, dries (or hangs to dry) and folds everyone's clothes then tells everyone to put their things away (even me :D ); she *usually* does one load in the a.m. and puts another in when she goes to bed - I help her when she gets behind, though

 

8yo - dishes; hand washes anything that can't go in the dishwasher and loads, runs, and empties dishwasher; he also has the right to remind people to put their own dishes in the dishwasher (even me :D ); obviously, this is done at each meal

 

5yo - feeds the cat and keeps her water dish full; helps wipe and set the table for meals; he feeds the cat in the a.m. and the rest is at meal times

 

We also ask them to help with other chores as they come up and they often help each other with their chores.

Edited by Tutor
forgot the "when"
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8 & 6yo make their beds, dry & put away dishes, dress, fix hair (LOL), brush teeth, put all the laundry away, pick up toys, etc., clean bathroom sinks, mirrors, pick up the laundry room, sort dirty clothes, almost change their own sheets.

 

They *could* sweep, vacuum, wash dishes, do laundry, & maybe some other stuff, if I were willing to wait for them to do it, but these are jobs I find soothing, so there ya go.

 

They're probably old enough to fold their own clothes & they do sometimes, but...it's kind-of my last frontier of analness, I guess. I can't. quite. give up the crisp square folds of retail-folded shirts & towels. :lol: It's the little things, you know.:D

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My daughters are 11 and 12 years old.

As we have a household help twice a week for a full 8-hour work day, most of the "big" things get done by her; what we do between her visits is more a maintenance.

 

Each of my daughters has her own room, and they share a bathroom - that's considered "their space", so they're in charge of keeping it neat. Ideally, they should take turns in cleaning the bathroom (so every 3-4 days one of them should clean it), but I'm aware of their "little secret" that our maid every now and then, when she lacks other chores, does that instead of them (even though I told her I don't expect from her to "cover" them!), so they sometimes get away with it.

 

Other than that, they're expected to generally clean up after themselves (that means putting things back where they were after they used them, putting the dishes after they've eaten in the dishwasher or handwashing them, cleaning up any mess they might have done, etc.) and to help with their laundry (they need to at least sort it and pick up after it's dried and fold it, but more often than not they do the whole laundry-related process).

 

The only assigned chores they have are really small - the older one cleans the floors (which doesn't need to be done every day, since twice a week our maid takes care of them thoroughly to last the next day too, and Saturdays we don't do any chores, so my daughter cleans them only 2-3 times a week), the younger one unloads the dishwasher when needed and brings out the garbage when needed (very often our maid does those things too) and does all the plants-related stuff. So they basically even out regarding the weekly things too.

 

Regarding the monthly things, they just participate in the monthly thorough cleaning by doing whatever is requested they do. However, as our maid really does an excellent job in keeping the place clean, even the thorough monthly cleaning doesn't take up too much time and energy.

 

Setting the table and such stuff are basically an improvisation in our house, any of us can do it depending on the circumstances. They also sometimes help out with cooking, if they want.

 

I sometimes think I should be assigning them more work around the house, since they're already getting away a lot because our maid sympathizes them (from their giggling I get an impression that she even picks up their rooms occasionally, even though she swears she doesn't), but then I feel hypocritical, as *I* more often than not get away too with the things *I* technically should be doing, so I don't insist much, as long as the house is clean.

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My daughter will be 10 next week

Her chores start as soon as she wakes up.

These are her daily chores:

Feed cats(monitor food consumption)

Clean cats litterboxes

Make bed

get dressed

Fold any laudnry from overnight and put away for proper people to put away.

Clean rabbit litterboxes

feed rabbits

feed finches and change their bath water

 

extra chores are cleaning up dog poop in the yard, wiping down toilet, vacumming, dusting, organizing craft items, books or what not.

 

My son is 4.5 years old, his daily chores are as follows:

turn night light off

make bed

get dressed and put dirty clothes in hamper

help fold laundry

put away his own laundry

help feed 1 dog

help put dishes away

use the broom and dustpan in the dining room and kitchen

help feed the gerbils

 

extra chores: dust, help spotting dog poop in the yard to clean up, babysit the bunnies during their playtime.

 

Those are their regular chores. They do not fight them and if they haven't done them or are behind then i remind them. We also use chore cards that we keep hangin gon the fridge. As they do the chore they change the cards to a different holder, then I can go see the holders to know what has or has not been accomplished yet.

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