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What chores do your schooled children do?


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I remember being very resentful (as a bratty teenager) at having to wash and iron my own clothes in addition to daily chores. My mother didn't work outside the home, she barely tidied/cleaned the house and I was the only child at home. I had long school days, an hour commute and lots of homework. So that's my rocky history with this.

 

My children are probably going to bricks-and-mortar school this autumn. They currently tidy and clean their own rooms, tidy the kitchen and pack/unpack dishwasher, empty bins, distribute clean clothes, bring in wood and kindling, and do anything else that I think of to oppress them with.

 

I do think that children should learn to do chores, but I'm considering just getting them to do them at weekends/during the holidays. I'll be home all day; they will be at school from 8:30 to 5:30 (some of that extracurricular) plus homework.

 

So what do your children do?

 

Thanks

 

Laura

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My boys (ages 9 and 14) do the following:

load and unload the dishwasher

wash the dishes

clean up the kitchen after dinner and sweep the floor every evening

wipe down their own bathroom counters and toilets (I do the showers and tubs.)

keep their rooms picked up and their beds made

clean the toys and books and blankets, etc in the common areas

vacuum the common areas and their bedrooms

 

The 14 year old also mows the lawn and blows the leaves once a week. The 9 year old picks up sticks, pine cones, rocks, etc. so the older one can mow.

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My boys are 10, 8, 6 and 3.

 

Regular chores

 

unload dishwasher

feed/water dogs

sweep kitchen/dining area

make beds

pick up toys

put away clean clothes

help set the table and get drinks for meals

clean table off after meals

 

Things they do but not on a regular basis.

 

mop kitchen/dining area

vacuum

dust

clean mirrors in bathroom

switch laundry from washer to dryer

clean out car

clean up yard

help with yard work

clean baseboards

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Can't speak to my own kids but I can tell you what I did when I was a schooled child:

 

Starting at around 7 it was my job to vacuum the whole house (we had 13 rooms) and the stairs. I did this on weekends. I also mopped the kitchen floor (also on weekends). I straightened the living room and dining room too; this was daily. It was my job to set the table every evening for dinner, and my job to empty the dishwasher when I got home from school every day. Oh, dusting was also my job (usually done on the weekend). In our house Saturday was big chore day...most of the day was chores. I raked the leaves; when I was younger my Pop helped...but by the time I was twelve that was all my job...and I had to rake one of the neighbors, too. My Nana liked to cook, so that wasn't my job. I brought down the laundry (usually on weekends) and did any odd jobs asked of me. As a teen cleaning the bathrooms was also my job (I wouldn't clean the toilets though), and mopping the laundry room.

 

Most of those chores were weekend chores. Daily chores were straightening the living room and dining room, setting the table, and emptying the dishwasher...and any odd jobs that were requested of me.

 

Weekends were vacuuming, mopping, dusting, general cleaning of any area that needed it, etc.

 

Raking leaves often happened on the weekend, but sometimes during the week. Snow shoveling (which I had help with) happened any time I had snow.

 

My Nana did the laundry, worked full-time, cooked, did grocery shopping, etc. My Pop did most of the outside work, worked full-time, took care of the cars, and directed me in my chores.:D He took the time to show me how to do chores, which was great. He was always busy taking care of things when he was home.

 

Some of these chores I resented when I was young (usually the outside ones), but looking back they were good for me and I'm glad I had to do them. Now I just need to work on getting the kids to do as much!

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my children, ages 7 and 4, both have chore charts. I ask them to do 2-3 chores a day from their individual lists. On weekends they often do more.

 

For my 7 yo, his list consists of

 

tidy room, help clear table after meals, make coffee (he enjoys this!), feed cat, wipe down bathroom sink, put shoes away, put clean clothes away, sweep porch.

 

for my 4 year, his list consists of

 

tidy room, clear table, wipe sink, put shoes away, put clean clothes away, clean bathroom (he wipes the cupboards with a cloth)

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My 13 yo (turning 14 next week) started back in PS this week. He told me now that he goes to school all day he doesnt have time to do chores! Hello? ARe you kidding me? My mom made me clean bathrooms and she did a check after I was done. I had to do it several times. I did tables, dusting and such. I never did my own laundry...but I had to have it ready to give her.

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I am a single mother and we both do chores to keep our lives going! The fairy mother/housekeeper has not arrived!! I am a nursing student and in the final semester for my Associate's of Science in Nursing, the hardest and busiest semester of the program. After graduation I will continue to work on my prerequesite classes for the Bachelor's and hopefully work part time to support us. All this is to say that busyness is my lifestyle.

 

Additionally, as an eight year old, my father died, my mother was 5 weeks post partum with the third child, second child was 6. Mom basically stayed in her bedroom with the baby for about a year. I cooked every meal, cleaned all the dishes, did all the parts of the laundry process, swept and mopped the floors, fed the dog, walked the 6 year old to and from the local elementary, did all my homework, and helped mom with the baby. You do what it takes to keep the family going.

 

As a result of my experience at 8, I don't buy it when our American society believes childhood is only for play. Yes, pre-K kids should primarily learn through play because that is their best learning style. At the same time it is our job to make their learning a real life lesson into play. For instance DS learned to sort dirty laundry by color and enjoyed it at the age of 3! He learned his responsibility to bring the dirty laundry to be sorted and reinforced the names of the colors by doing this chore. Every child should have a responsibility to contribute to the family according to their age, ability, and the family's situation. This helps them not feel like a reciever, but a contributor in the family, as well.

 

DS wants me to tell this story: When he was 2, 3, and 4 and did a chore or something helpful, I would always respond to him with "Good job!" One day we arrived from the grocery store and I was emptying the car and had my arms full of bags. He walked down the driveway and closed the gate, then turned around to me and said, with a huge grin, and in his cutest soprano voice, "I'm a good jobber!!!" He got it that contributing to the family responsibilities is something to be proud of. And I was bursting with my own pride at him.

 

Now that he is nine, he still brings the laundry to be sorted, as his favorite PBS show for many years was Julia Child, he makes most of the meals(much of which is defrost and cook in the microwave but we are slowly working on learning actual cooking skills - he made me scrambled eggs this morning), is supposed to keep up with rinsing dishes and loading and unloading the dishwasher, feed the dog, cat and two rabbits, clean the cat box, pick up and neaten his bedroom and the public rooms, sometimes hangs up the wet laundry to dry, and put the dry, clean laundry away.

 

Based on reading this thread, I may add: making his bed daily, sweeping the floor, and counter-top cleaning in the kitchen as needed.

 

My basic parenting philosophy is that my job is to make me obsolete so he can be self-sufficient. My goal is that when he leaves home he can take care of himself.

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I have a vivid memory of me as a young girl of about 10 years old standing on a stool over the stove making my family's dinner. My mom worked full time and wasn't home in the evenings in time to make the nightly meal. As soon as I showed readiness, I was tasked with this all important responsibility, every day after school, after homework of course. Also at that age I was expected to help clean the house on the weekends and go to the laundromat with mother every other weekend to help with the laundry. I never thought anything of it since there were other kids in the neighborhood who had it worse. It was just a way of life. My mother was a thorough, patient teacher. As a result, I was one of the few in my college dorm who could fend for herself when it came to these "domesitic" responsibilities. Fast forward some years (I won't say how many), I think the training has paid off. I can't deny there were many times when I just didn't feel like doing chores but I have to say I'm better for it today.

 

Now that I'm a mother with two daughters of my own, I can see how delegating household responsibility has benefited both them and me. Because they are much busier with afterschool activities than I ever was, the bulk of their chores is reserved for the weekends but in a nut shell here's what they are tasked to do:

 

Weekdays

 

 

  • Make up beds
  • Take out breakfast ingredients (dd9)
  • Set up the table before mealtimes (alternate or do it together)
  • Clear the table after mealtimes (alternate or do it together)
  • Wash breakfast dishes
  • Wipe down bathroom counter at night (alternate per week)
  • Room rescue (ala Fly Lady) before bed

 

 

Weekends

 

 

  • sort laundry
  • fold and put away clean laundry
  • clean up common loft play area
  • clean up bedroom and bathroom
  • vacuum bedroom and loft

 

That's pretty much it. What they do already is a tremendous help! This week since they've been off from school since Wednesday, I had them de-clutter their closets. It's so great they can do stuff around the house and do it well. They always say they can't wait to be all grown up. I always tell them that with "freedom comes great responsibility." I think they're beginning to get the meaning of that.

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I had to work a lot as a child. I grew up on a farm and it was real work, not just chores. My whole family had to work on the farm and that is just how it was.

 

My DH works long hours and I only work part-time if it suits us - my main job is looking after everyone else. My children are aged 4 and 7 and their only chores are picking up after themselves and I admit I don't even enforce that as much as I could. They 'help' when I ask and set the table most evenings, sort some washing with me etc. but I don't have a chore chart or anything like that.

 

DD7 is prone to getting anxious and worried about school and I prefer to see her relax, play and unwind afterschool than help maintain the house.

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My basic parenting philosophy is that my job is to make me obsolete so he can be self-sufficient. My goal is that when he leaves home he can take care of himself.

 

This is one of my goals also. I also see it as preparing my four boys for marriage one day. They need to be able to take care of a house and help their wives and families.

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The responses have all been very admirable and inspirational, but for balance I thought I'd say my kids do very little other than their own personal chores during the week. I get my oldest to take out the garbage and recycling when needed, or other small things that need to be done, but other than that, not much. To clarify -- they are (supposed to) be responsible for their own backpack, my 11 year old for his lunch and unpacking it at the end of the day, taking their clothes to the laundry, putting away their own dishes, self care etc. Even that is a struggle, not because of resistance, but overall spaciness, and their schedule. My sons are 7 and 11 and have afterschool activities almost every day, and homework. So in many ways it is my choice to have them that busy, and the consquence is that they don't have much time for chores during the week. They aren't doing tons of screen time or anything. In fact, my 11 year old has very little goof off time during the week, and chooses to spend it playing Legos with his younger brother which is good in many ways. I think next year I should cut down on the activities so that he can have the chore experience, but now it is pretty limited to the weekends. I also have to say up til recently he hasn't been coordinated enough to do some of the things that would really help me. I realize in the long run it is better to have them learn but sometimes dealing with a broken light bulb or something makes giving them chores more trouble than it is worth. Like on principle I will ask them to load the dishwasher with their things but it would be easier to do it myself.

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I have four boys, ages 12, 10, 8, and 6. I figure that one of my jobs as a mom is to teach them how to work, and not just assume that those are "women's jobs." Plus, in my house, if it's only the females who do anything, that would be only me!

 

We have a chore chart that is simply divided. Six people, working six days (not on Sunday), doing six different chores. These include: cleaning the toilets, doing the breakfast dishes, wiping the kitchen and bathroom countertops, vacuuming the living/dining room, dusting the living/dining room, and sweeping the kitchen floor. I'm not so focused on getting the job perfect, but more learning each skill with competence. I've tried to get a variety enough that one could clean an entire house with these skills. (Wiping, washing, sweeping, dusting, vacuuming, etc.)

 

In addition to the chores, each boy is responsible for keeping his room picked up, making his bed, and putting his clean clothes away.

 

When I was a child, the rule was that if you were tall enough to reach the washing machine knobs, you were old enough to do your own laundry.

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I do think that children should learn to do chores, but I'm considering just getting them to do them at weekends/during the holidays. I'll be home all day; they will be at school from 8:30 to 5:30 (some of that extracurricular) plus homework.

 

So what do your children do?

 

 

I only have one left at home, and he does chores on the weekends and during summer when he has more free time. Because his school day starts at 7:15, which is when we leave the house, I don't require him to do much more in the morning other than to wake up, eat breakfast, brush hair and teeth. After school, he is busy with extracurriculars, school work and work I assign.

 

I did the same with my two eldest, who are in their 20s, and it worked out fine. They both are tidy and know how to do all of the chores to maintain their apartments.

 

ETA ~ My youngest will clean his room thoroughly in order to put off working on a big assignment. I have to remind him to not worry about his room at that time and just concentrate on the assignment.

Edited by MBM
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My kids have always had chores. They alternate each week and are in charge of a particular area (dusting/vacuuming, kitchen and bathrooms). Things were going great while I had all of them at home. Once my oldest started high school outside of the home it became difficult for her to get her chores done. She had no problem doing those chores that could be done on the weekend but it was difficult for her to do chores that had to be done daily like the dishwasher. She leaves the house by 7:20 and doesn't get home until 6:00 3 days a week. By then we are eating dinner and then she does homework until bed. The other two days that she is home earlier she tries to do chores but she is usually trying to do any long term assignments that she knows she won't have time for the other nights. It's not that she was unwilling to do chores but since she is already up past 11:00 with homework the chores made it even later.

 

I finally rearranged our chores this past week. My son is in charge of the dishwasher, keeping the kitchen counters and floor clean and feeding the dog since his schedule is the lightest and those need to be done daily. I give him a few extra dollars a month for taking these over. The rest of the chores I put on index cards and the kids take turns picking what chores they want for the following week. They each end up with 5 chores. These are in addition to those things that I take for granted like keeping their room picked up, cleaning up the table after meals and putting away their laundry. My oldest daughter takes chores that only need to be done once a week or are really quick to do. Last week this worked out pretty well so we will continue this way.

 

I really think that chores are great for kids but that sometimes parents need to be flexible. I'm shocked by how many kids I know that have no chores. They don't even clean up their dishes or garbage from the table after eating or make their beds.

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We live on a small farm and which my children are a huge help with. They actually fight over who is allowed to do what chore! The ask me for more chores all the time and get upset with anyone who does one of their chores for them. Except for emptying the dishwasher which seems to be the least favorite of all the chores around here so I usually go ahead and do that one myself. Since we also make nearly everything ourselves, including all our cleaners, soap, bread, cheese, yogurt etc. I have a lot of chores myself!

 

But in general this is what my kids do:

 

DD (13) cares for two coops full of chickens which currently entails unfreezing waterers twice per day, feeding them, changing litter once per week and checking for eggs. She also sweeps up the kitchen every evening, folds all the laundry, cleans the kids bathroom on weekends, changes her sheets every week and in the summer hangs out laundry as well. When we have the garden she also helps every day with that as well. Every morning she also helps with whatever else needs done such as fetching hay or straw for the goats or getting an extra bucket of water. She also keeps her room tidy and makes her bed every day.

 

DS (11) has care of the dog, walks her several times per day, feeds her and keeps her water dish clean. Puts dishes away daily, makes his bed, takes dirty laundry to wash room, takes hay to goats whenever they need it, unfreezes and fills goats water buckets twice per day, takes out the mail daily and the trash when needed oh, and keeps his room tidy.

 

DD (8) feeds the goats, feeds the cats, makes her bed and helps with baking (she kneads the bread). She also helps with whatever else I need her for like fetching things etc. In the summer she is the green bean picker and also has her own garden that she tends herself. She is always ready and willing to help with anything!

 

Blessings,

Hope

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I just wanted to ask a few more questions about chores. I wanted to refer to the OP's question. I was thinking about asking a similar question. Several of you have your children do quite a few chores. Do they homeschool or do they go to public/private school? My kids have always done quite a few chores but like I said in my post above it has become more difficult for my daughter who goes to private high school. She just doesn't have enough hours in the day to get everything done. I was wondering how you do it if you have kids that go to high school. My kids that are at home have a lot more free time and chores aren't a problem.

 

I was also curious about laundry. I notice that a lot of people have their kids do their own laundry. This never made sense to me since it would seem like everyone would be doing a ton of small loads. I pretty much do the wash every day and my kids don't have enough clothing for me to just do it once a week. If they were to just do their own laundry it would take several days for them to accumulate enough for a load, especially since the loads are divided. I think it is a good idea for kids to be able to do laundry and even do a load or two of the family laundry but I could never see everyone just doing their own separate laundry.

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In regards to the laundry question.

 

My children have been homeschooled since birth by the way.

 

My oldest DD (13) removes the clean clothes from the washer and puts them in the dryer and or hangs them outside. Once they are dry she folds them all and puts them in individual piles. The owners them pick those piles up and puts them away. She will also sometimes take it upon herself to put away the clothes for someone if she knows they have had a busy day.

 

It is my job to put the wash in the machine and I do about a load per day duing the week and two loads on the weekend.

 

Blessings,

Hope

 

Just for reference, my children have a lot of time for homeschool, chores, play time etc because we do not have TV and they do not use the computer either. We also have no video games etc. They have tons of time because they don't waste it in front of a box as my hubby calls it. It has been a huge blessing for this family and my kids tell everyone they meet how much they LOVE not having TV etc.

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  • 2 weeks later...
I do think that children should learn to do chores, but I'm considering just getting them to do them at weekends/during the holidays. I'll be home all day; they will be at school from 8:30 to 5:30 (some of that extracurricular) plus homework.

Laura

 

It sounds as though your dc will have a 9 hour day, plus homework. We are a bit similar here -- two dc with school, sports teams, orchestra practices, swimming, scouting, other extra-curricular activities and afterschooling. Oh, and homework, plus playing with friends. And I am mostly at home, too.

 

My dc need some free time (!), so I focus on a few responsibilities that do not take much time. One child is responsible for kitchen garbage and recycling. The other is responsible for bringing paper towels, toilet paper and bottled water up from the basement as needed.

 

I do ask them to help with various cleaning up activities, emphasizing that we are a family and that we all help. But I will definitely adjust what I ask, depending on how busy or tired they are. Dc will often help with meals (one of them is a already decent cook), cleaning, home repair, etc - but these are not regular chores.

 

We all relax on the weekends.

 

If they had lots of free time, I would adjust the chores up. But that is not the case.

Edited by Alessandra
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were too hard for me to keep up with, so I posted a list on the fridge and the rule was that every kid does two a day....on any given day I ask what they've done and they have to go do it if they have not (I'm mean, walking the dog in your jammies at bedtime is goofy, but we live in the country so nobody sees or cares)

 

So many curse words and aggravating words ("good grief") were flying around that I made a ziplock baggie with the stated rule and magneted it to the fridge: Dollar payment for words that were not okay, and Dad and I had to do it too. Gave the money, split in 1/3s to the kids for spending money on a vacation.

 

I do not give allowance, until oldest boy started dating and has really, really got no time in his schedule as a senior to earn money, and his is more a gas allowance, but I will pay generously for any big chore to be done around the house. My homeschool kid has more chores but they are mostly going up and down the stairs, because my knee is bad.

 

LBS

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi,

I have one 100% home school child and one after school child. My HS child is 9 and has a ton of chores, my AS child is almost 6. She does the following:

make her bed

take care of her own laundry (dirty in the hamper, take the laundry room on Friday, and put away on Sunday)

She feeds her dog before school.

She sets the table for dinner

She empties the dishwasher if it is full and she is finished with her home work from PS.

She is responsible for her own room and vacuums it too.

HTH :)

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The only chores I had as a kid was to set the table and dry the dishes as my mom washed them. Sometimes I fed the cats.

 

My mom stayed at home while I was in school and my dad was at work, so she felt that her job was to keep the house. (My job was school, dad's job was earning money.) I can see the logic behind her ideas, but I think I should have been given something to do.

 

When I got married (at 19), I didn't know how to clean. For example, I had no idea how to wash my clothes when we got married. No idea. I didn't know where to put the soap, I didn't know what fabric softener even was. For the first 10 years of marriage, my husband did all the laundry, cleaning, dishes, etc. (His mom worked and he had chores to do after school, so he knew how.)

 

After 10 years of marriage, we had kids. Then, I stayed home while Dh worked. And when they learned to crawl, I had to learn to clean (or they'd have eaten too many things that shouldn't have been on the floor.)

 

My only suggestion: it would be nice if the chores were done together. Instead of sending your kids off to work on chores, it could be a time to be together. I didn't mind so much drying the dishes b/c my mom and I were together as a team.

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My only suggestion: it would be nice if the chores were done together. Instead of sending your kids off to work on chores, it could be a time to be together. I didn't mind so much drying the dishes b/c my mom and I were together as a team.

 

Agreed. Also, then they won't suck nails into the vacuum cleaner, try to polish wood furniture with Windex, poke through lampshades, and so on.

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My daughter attends cc and ballet everyday. She is expected to help out on weekends and if she doesn't have class or homework during the week. I don't mind folding the laundry or unloading the dishwasher if she's doing schoolwork, but it irks me if she's sitting on Facebook. :glare:

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I have mine do chores because:

 

My family made me work in our family business (as well as doing chores at home) from the time I was eleven. I also saved half my salary for college and had to use the other half to buy most of my own clothes and other things I might want in life. It not only did not kill me, I think it actually helped me immensely.

 

I felt horribly for the kids at college whose parents had never taught them how to manage the little everyday, common sense bits of life, like how to shop for necessities, launder their clothes, etc. They had to get used to living on their own, keep up with school, AND learn all those many things that should have already been second nature to them at the same time. I simply do not wish that on my children at all. Also, in today's world even more than the world of my early adulthood, there are always lurkers waiting to take advantage of those who seem gullible or unsure of themselves in any way. I'd like my children to appear self-assured enough as they move out into life to hopefully not attrack predators of any type.....

 

Once children have learned to do something well, I certainly don't think that they necessarily have to do it all the time in order to keep in practice. This may be more true for some than others. I do think they need down time just to dream or veg, too......

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Once children have learned to do something well, I certainly don't think that they necessarily have to do it all the time in order to keep in practice. This may be more true for some than others. I do think they need down time just to dream or veg, too......

 

I'm happy for them to do chores around the house at weekends so that they become familiar with how the house works, plus do a little on week days (packing the dishwasher and tidying the kitchen) but I want them to have just a little time to themselves in the evenings.

 

As for learning things before going to university: even though my mother made me do all my own washing at home, I was still flummoxed when I left home. We had a twin tub washer/spinner, so I was completely at sea with automatic washers at the laundrette (laundromat).

 

Laura

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8:30-5:30 is a long day, IMO. Between the school day itself, the extracurricular activities, and the adjustment to "going" to school, the boys will have enough to handle for a while.

 

Hold them responsible for keeping their bedrooms and bathroom(s) neat enough for you to easily clean (IOW, everything put away properly). Require them to help clear/set the table, and perhaps help out with a little chore (such as emptying trash bins) that will not take too much time.

 

But (IMO), that's it. If you want to pass on housekeeping skills -- laundering, organizing, cooking, cleaning -- those can wait for weekends and holidays.

 

One final thought: I do think that as children mature, they are able to assess what they are being asked to do in the context of the family's situation. When I was 14 my grandparents were in a terrible car accident. My mother worked hard to hold down a job, care for her parents, and take care of our household, but I knew that I was old enough to pitch in and help. So I basically took over the managing of our home -- cooking, laundry, cleaning, even grocery shopping (my dad dropped me off!). During my school breaks, I would go up to my grandparents' house and cook, wash, and clean for them.

 

No one required this of me, I just did it. I admit, it was an effort to keep it all running, but I did not resent any part of it. Keep the focus on being a family, serving each other as a family, and not on the chore list. It helps.

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:lol: I would be flummoxed by one of those washers! How do they work? :bigear: (I've never seen one before today).

 

Our twin tub was bought in 1958, to wash my second brother's nappies - my mother had washed my older brother's nappies by hand. We are a middle class family, but this was normal in the UK at the time.

 

One side of the machine is a washer. You normally fill it with a hose and it may have a heater in the bottom to warm the water up more. It has a rotator in the bottom like a standard American washer. When the clothes has been washed, you pull them out and rinse them in the sink by hand, then put them in the spinner to dry. After that you hang them up. You normally wash several loads of washing in the same warm water, starting with whites on hot, then moving through colours as the water cools. It sounds strange, but even when the water is pretty grey, it still cleans the clothes. You can imagine that the wash takes a while. When you have finished the wash, you hook a drainage pipe over the sink and it pumps the water out, all but the last bit which you drain into a bowl on the floor.

 

We still had that washer when I left home for university in 1981. My mother would replace anything that broke - it was very simple. She only bought an automatic washing machine when the twin tub company stopped supplying parts in about 1983. Twenty-five years isn't bad for a washing machine.

 

Laura

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My kids are still kind of little (5 & 7), but they are expected on a daily basis to:

 

-clear their own dishes from the table

-throw all dirty clothes down the chute

-pick up toys

-put hats, shoes, backpacks, jackets, etc. away after school

 

Other chores they are asked to help with periodically:

 

-unload the dishwasher

-vacuum and dust their bedroom (of course the results aren't usually that great, but I want to get them in the habit.)

-wipe down the bathroom with Lysol wipes

- use the toilet brush to clean the toilet (5 yr. old loves this!)

- clean out the car

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Our twin tub was bought in 1958, to wash my second brother's nappies - my mother had washed my older brother's nappies by hand. We are a middle class family, but this was normal in the UK at the time.

 

One side of the machine is a washer. You normally fill it with a hose and it may have a heater in the bottom to warm the water up more. It has a rotator in the bottom like a standard American washer. When the clothes has been washed, you pull them out and rinse them in the sink by hand, then put them in the spinner to dry. After that you hang them up. You normally wash several loads of washing in the same warm water, starting with whites on hot, then moving through colours as the water cools. It sounds strange, but even when the water is pretty grey, it still cleans the clothes. You can imagine that the wash takes a while. When you have finished the wash, you hook a drainage pipe over the sink and it pumps the water out, all but the last bit which you drain into a bowl on the floor.

 

We still had that washer when I left home for university in 1981. My mother would replace anything that broke - it was very simple. She only bought an automatic washing machine when the twin tub company stopped supplying parts in about 1983. Twenty-five years isn't bad for a washing machine.

 

Laura

 

 

I will NEVER complain about doing laundry again.

 

 

 

Thanks, Laura. I always enjoy reading your posts, as well as your blog. Your perspective opens up windows on worlds I've never seen. :001_smile:

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My children are homeschooled so my response doesn't exactly fit the criteria you mentioned (although the oldest now does most of her coursework outside, at the CC and a co-op program). But they do very few daily chores other than keeping their rooms clean and helping clean up after dinner. They are in 8th and 11th grade, and my teaching time with them is much less than it used to be. So about a year or so ago, I realized that I had more free time than they did. It just seemed fair for me to take on more of the daily chores. Honestly, I'd rather have them starting on math than washing the breakfast dishes or folding a load of clean towels. And ditto for the bathroom cleaning, vacuuming, etc. Do I want them to take a break from schoolwork, or does it make more sense for me to do it? That's the question I asked, and what I suggest you ask yourself.

 

Over the years, we did have various daily chores assigned to them. So they know *how* to do them, and they understand that they have to be done.

 

On weekends, it's a little different. My son helps out my husband with the pool and yard care. So I try to make sure my dd and I are busy with inside chores during that time.

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  • 1 month later...

I loved hearing how many of you have children who have more than just the token make your bed chore. I know many families who don't assign them at all. Someone also mentioned that she and her mother did chores together and it was a kind of bonding time. I'm hoping that's the way my ds sees it. We may not being doing the same chores, but I make cleaning a project to do together.

 

Here are 6 y.o. ds chores

-sort dirty clothes put clean ones away

-put away coats, shoes, bags etc.

-empty bathroom trash

-set and clear the table

-put away clean plastic glasses and silverware/untensils

-carry and help put away groceries

-sweep the kitchen

-feed and water the pets: one dog and three cats

-pull weeds

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  • 4 weeks later...

"I'm happy for them to do chores around the house at weekends so that they become familiar with how the house works, plus do a little on week days (packing the dishwasher and tidying the kitchen) but I want them to have just a little time to themselves in the evenings"

 

At the moment, I don't have an outside job and all the kids are hs. I have had more kids at home and most of the elder ones in private school where they had lots of home work.

 

I wanted everyone to feel part of the household, there were 2-3 boarders living with us so I gave everyone " a responsibility". I gave one the task of keeping the stairways swept, pointing out that with three floors we needed to keep the dirt from traveling up. i remember giving one of the boarders the task of folding clothes and then wishing I hadn't as she folded our undewear. I never did anything more than throw it on top of the rest.

 

I ended up having them all just clean up after dinner as they would have some company and it was the chore I really hated as I juggled getting the little ones into bed.

 

I think that my kids have always surprised me when i asked them what they wanted to do. They usually wanted something I had never let them do. I usually hog the cooking as it makes me feel nuturing and the shopping as my lists are often sketchy.

 

I think you might explain that you want to keep them feeling connected with the house and learn important skills. You don't expect them to have too much time during the week so they need to pick something they can do weekends. You might make up a list of things but don't be too surprised if they come up with something new. Be honest and don't let them dump all the drudgery on you. Life's boring bits belong to us all!:)

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