What chores do your children do?

[cloversandlions]

I'm hoping to focus on a more organized day, and part of that is preparing a chore chart or something like a daily responsibilities list for my children.

 

Currently, the only things my children do regularly is feed the dogs, empty the dishwasher, and tend to the chickens (let them out in the morning/put them away at night, feed them, check water, bring in eggs). They randomly get asked to vacuum, clean their bathroom, clean their rooms (which is met with much wailing and gnashing of teeth), and put away their clothes. Sometimes, they do not do an acceptable job with these tasks - I have walked in to discover that my ds12 has thrown clean clothing in a heap on his bean bag.

 

I need more organization, and so do my children. I also know that they are of an age to give more of their time helping around the house.

 

On a similar note, do your children receive an allowance? Is it only related to how well they do their chores? Are there optional jobs available for them to do for extra money?

 

(No yard to be mowed here - we live in the desert. Most neighbors do not have yards, either; those that do have usually hired a lawn service.)

[Lovin Learnin]

Not much organization here but my boys are responsible for yard work (mowing, weeding), keeping their rooms clean, taking out the garbage, and mopping the floors.

 

My dd is responsible for her room, dusting, vacuuming, and emptying the dishwasher.

 

Hmm...this makes it sound like there's not much left for me to do. :lol:

Edited August 8, 2011 by Lovin Learnin

[mandymom]

My 4 oldest do their own laundry, take out the trash, feed the animals (cat, bird, guinea pig, and fish), load and unload dishwasher, general pick-up and vacuuming, bathroom cleaning, room cleaning, and my oldest dd babysits the youngest on occasion (she's a certified babysitter). They generally make their own lunch too when it is simple things for the day (although my daughters are pretty good cooks). The youngest helps with the trash, pets, and pick-up. Sometimes he helps with the dishes as much as he can. We don't have "assignments" and they aren't completely responsible for all of the above, but they are fairly good at helping make the household run smoothly.

 

 

My kids don't get allowance except when we assign "special" jobs. Sometimes the older ones work at my dh's business (he's the owner), and then they get paid.

Edited August 8, 2011 by mandymom

[Lily_Grace]

Daily

Make bed

Tidy room

Tidy bathroom (swish toilet, wipe the sink, pick up floor)

 

Weekly

His laundry

Help with trash/recycling

Strip bed

Dust and sweep room

 

As needed/want of money

Mow the lawn

Weed the drive (we have cement blocks)

Dishes

vacuum

mop

 

 

We're doing the Accountable Kids program at the moment, so ds has 6-7 responsibilities spread throughout the day that he's required to do, and then a handful of optional ones that he can do to earn money.

[hsmamainva]

My oldest daughter babysits (for $$ if we're going out for "fun" - for free if we're going out to the grocery store). Other than that, she takes care of her own room, laundry, etc. She works and attends college classes so we don't ask much of her chore-wise anymore.

 

My oldest son takes out the trash, mows the lawn behind his dad with the push mower (Dad is on the tractor), clears the kitchen table after meals, loads and unloads the dishwasher, keeps his room clean, and does his own laundry.

 

My youngest son vacuums / sweeps the floors, picks up any sticks / debris in the yard before its mowed, carries in and unpacks the groceries, gives the dogs food and water, and keeps his room clean.

 

The youngest daughter sets the table and dusts the furniture -- and gives the cats and rabbits food and water.

[Ginevra]

I'm hoping to focus on a more organized day, and part of that is preparing a chore chart or something like a daily responsibilities list for my children.

 

Currently, the only things my children do regularly is feed the dogs, empty the dishwasher, and tend to the chickens (let them out in the morning/put them away at night, feed them, check water, bring in eggs). They randomly get asked to vacuum, clean their bathroom, clean their rooms (which is met with much wailing and gnashing of teeth), and put away their clothes. Sometimes, they do not do an acceptable job with these tasks - I have walked in to discover that my ds12 has thrown clean clothing in a heap on his bean bag.

 

I need more organization, and so do my children. I also know that they are of an age to give more of their time helping around the house.

 

On a similar note, do your children receive an allowance? Is it only related to how well they do their chores? Are there optional jobs available for them to do for extra money?

 

(No yard to be mowed here - we live in the desert. Most neighbors do not have yards, either; those that do have usually hired a lawn service.)

 

My children's ages are similar to yours, so here are some of the things they do on a weekly basis:

 

dd14: Cook a meal; make a dessert; clean a bathroom completely; sweep/mop a room; dust; weed; sweep the porch; groom the dog

 

ds11: Help me make a meal; make a dessert; clean a bathroom completely; dust; weed; groom the dog; vac the car; wash the car

 

ds6: Dust; put away toys/belongings; clean white trim in the house; clean cabinet fronts in kitchen; feed the pets

 

Daily jobs they have are: make their beds; clothing put away; set table/clean up table; wash dishes (older two); sweep up kitchen (older two).

 

To me, allowance is separate from chores and is not related. If they did the job poorly, they will do it again. If they didn't understand the job, I will help, but if they were being lazy, they will just do it over.

 

I do give them the opportunity for "money jobs"; some of the items listed above could be money jobs; i.e. wash the cars, extensive weeding, groom the dog.

 

I do think it will be somewhat harder for you at first since you haven't consistently trained them to do this from little. My kids complain sometimes, but they know it falls on deaf ears. Also, though I do give them a specific job card, I am also perfectly willing to give them a job to do along the way and I don't want any belly-aching about it. So, on a given morning, I might say, "CW, I need you to empty the dishwasher." He does it. It's not on his official job list, but neither are many zillions of things I have to do any given week, so that's just reality! :001_smile:

[lovelaughs_times_three]

I just recently organized this at my house. We have the house divided into "kingdoms". There is a Laundry King/Queen, a Bathroom King/Queen, a Kitchen King/Queen, and a Floor King/Queen. Without going into too much detail, basically every King/Queen starts the day by going through the house and scavenger hunting to find everything that belongs to their kingdom and putting it back where it belongs. (i.e. the Kitchen Queen finds all the dirty dishes throughout the house and brings them back to the kitchen sink).

Then, later that day for chore time they have the following responsibilities:

Kitchen - unload/load the dishwasher

Bathroom - clean one bathroom a day/freshen up bathrooms on odd days

Laundry - brings down all dirty clothes on Fri for me to wash/fold. Takes back up all clean clothes and puts away on Mon. Tue-Thur cleans/wipes kitchen table

Floor - one room a day, finishes cleaning anything the morning sweep didn't catch and vacuums/mops one room a day.

 

In their list of responsibilities is also chores such as clearing out trash cans, feeding pets, cleaning their room.

 

We've just started this new system, but so far we are all really enjoying it. We will switch kingdoms once a month. (oh, and I'm in the rotation too. This month I'm the Kitchen Queen! :))

[livingnlearning]

Every morning the kids take the horses in from pasture, separate the milk cow and her calf, feed the chickens and bun and collect the eggs. And water everyone. In the winter they haul firewood twice a day too.

 

At night they do the entire thing in reverse and milk the cow.

 

Each Monday they clean their rooms and they do all their own laundry. They swap days to put away clean dishes.

 

They do odds/ends as they arise, like vacuuming the livingroom or raking the yard or hauling hay.

 

They both get a base salary of $5 a week but usually do extras for amounts that we negotiate as we go. My son is becoming wealthy by making my morning coffee for me!

 

The kids are 11 and 13; they've had similar chores their whole life.

[Sahamamama]

Let's see... my favorite top ten chores for kids:

 

 

1. Change the oil in the van
   
2. Balance the checking account (online)
   
3. Pave the driveway
   
4. Visit neighbors in the nursing home
   
5. Rewire the living room lamps
   
6. Drive to Walmart for lotion and conditioner
   
7. Grill meat
   
8. Mow the back 40
   
9. Scratch my back
   
10. Bathe the dog
    

 

[Parrothead]

We are needs vs. set chores family. No one has set chores anymore. We work as a family every evening to get things tidy and one morning a week we do the deeper cleaning as a family. That way everyone gets a chance to do everything and learn how.

[gingersmom]

We are a chore free family. My kids help out because I ask them to and because its our house and we are all working together to maintain it.

 

Truthfully I never liked the word "chore".

[elise1mds]

Both kids:

--Make their beds and tidy their rooms daily

--Fold and put away laundry; DS can also hang any clothes that belong on hangers

--Set the table for meals when asked

 

DS:

--Handwash, dry and put away dishes that are too big for the dishwasher

--Feed the animals when asked

--Dust his and DD's room when asked

--Wipe down the bathroom at least once a week (we have one bathroom for our family of four... I do the deep cleaning)

 

DD:

--Put away all utensils (except sharp knives), small pots and pans, and measuring cups/spoons whenever the dishwasher has run

--Vacuum her and DS' room when asked

--Collect eggs from the chicken coop when asked

--Help clean her gerbil's cage when necessary

 

Both children are perfectly capable of cleaning the house from top to bottom if the need arises; however, I typically only expect them to take care of their own rooms. They receive a monthly allowance but can lose money for certain behaviors and earn extra money for going above and beyond the call of duty (doing extra chores, making a meal, doing something for a sibling or relative, etc.). Today DS has decided to earn extra money by vacuuming/sweeping the entire house, for example.

[Mommy22alyns]

I need to get better about this. The girls have almost no chores. :001_huh: Becca gathers and empties trashcans and folds undies, both weekly. Sylvia... is the baby of the family and takes full advantage of that fact. Pretty awful, huh?

[RahRah]

DS helps set, then clear the dinner table, picks up his toys, brings his laundry to the laundry room, helps fold clean laundry, puts his clean clothes away, pairs up his clean socks, helps clean out the minivan as needed with me, and he helps sweep outside and in the garage when DH is working on the garage.

 

He does get an allowance, $5.00 a week, and can earn extra if A) he initiates and asks to do something more and B) I need something done that is not on his normal list that he's capable of doing and he agrees to do and he does it well. He doesn't ask that often though, but in the last month he has asked twice and once he earned $2.00 folding the baby clothes and putting them away and another time $5.00 for helping me by bringing stacks of books back into my office while I was re-shelving them after a major sort and purge.

[Tarreymere]

I tend to be of the opinion that I'm not asking the kids to 'help' with 'chores' but that I am giving them valuable training and practice in managing their own household some day. So, my kids are responsible for their own laundry (age 3 bringing it out to the laundry area, getting it out of the dryer, and putting folded things away, age five includes loading the washer and swapping to the dryer and folding, age eight is the whole enchilada) keeping their own rooms clean, and cleaning their own bathroom.

 

I tend to figure that by age twelve I want the child to be able to have some experience with basic cleaning (handwash dishes as we have no dishwasher, washing clothes, cleaning the kitchen and bathroom, ect) and have a good idea of what constitutes a clean, organized, neat home and how to get there. I also want a child by the age of twelve to be able to cook a basic breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Most importantly I don't want to have to drive myself crazy nagging them.

 

Anyway, I look at the child and try to figure out what that particular child is capable of and go from there. I also start early. If you are old enough to comprehend your native language, you can help out and follow simple directions. I don't have chore charts, I tend to be more of a 'give orders on the go' kind of person. As an example, when I get up in the morning and start with breakfast in the kitchen I start assigning chores right then to be done right then "Fox, bring out your laundry, " " Put away the dishes" ect. When they are younger I use more of a step by step detailed type of direction: I would stand in the messy bedroom and say "Okay, now put all of your toys in the toy bin", and then "Good, now pull out that junk from under the bed", and eventually I didn't have to go into the bedroom while the work was being done because they already knew what I expected (and what I would be looking for when I did go back there to inspect).

 

As the child gets older I say things like "Erika, we are having scrambled eggs and toast this morning, so get it started" or "Raine, get started mixing up the batter for waffles" so they have a progressively more complicated time doing things. Right now I can say "Straighten up the living room" to the seven year old and she knows exactly what that means and can get it done. The goal is that eventually I can lie in my deathbed and say "Clean the house for my wake, and get a nice supper going" and they will know what to do.

 

We don't tie chores to allowance. We believe that the family is a team, and the team works together to get things done. We don't have 'spare' cash, but we do decide on meal planning together and entertainment and recreation and the kids know that if we go to the water park this weekend it costs XX dollars, and if we go to the beach at the state park it is free so we can rent a movie later in the week, that kind of thing, and they participate in making those decisions.

[Pretty in Pink]

My boys (ages 5, 8, and 12) are able to complete or assist one another in completing the following chores:

 

Cleaning the kitchen (empty/load dishwasher, handwash dishes, put away leftovers, wipe down surfaces, sweep/mop floor as needed)

 

Cleaning their own bedrooms/bathrooms (change sheets, general pick-up, vacuum/sweep/mop as needed, clean mirrors/toilets/sinks)

 

Take out trash/recycling as needed

 

Sort laundry (ds12 can also use the washer and dryer)

 

Feed/water/walk dog/clean up poop

 

$$$ Lawn work (mow grass, edge lawn, pull weeds in flower beds)

 

$$$ Clean vehicles (general pick-up inside, vacuum, Armor All the interior)

 

General pick-up around the house

 

They do all of these chores on a daily/weekly basis. They get paid for the ones marked $$$. Really, there aren't many chores that they cannot/do not do at least part-time. We all pitch in fairly equally around here, or as well as we are capable.

[island-mama]

My 4 & 6 yo clean their rooms, tidy all their belongings from around the house at the end of the day, water the plants, empty the dishwasher, help wash and hang their laundry, then fold and put it away. Those are the basics. But they are expected to do anything else they are asked as well. We just started using Choreganizers and they seem to really enjoy it.