Chores.

[Blessed 2 B Zoe]

Hi guys,

Now that Sinead is 5 I wanted to start giving her some responsibilty around the house. Her behaviour is not right good at the moment and I think giving her some responsibilty around the house might help her.

Only problem with this is the fact I have no idea what to let her do around the house and I am not sure if it will help.

Any suggestions would be of a great help to me [whatwacko]

[Ashlee]

I let my 5 year old do all kinds of stuff around the house. She actually would like it if I allowed her to do more. She likes to load the dishwasher, fold laundry, dust, help with food preparation, and of course help with her new baby sister. With those chores I sometimes have to help her quite a bit for it to get done properly but she gets better and better everytime. She has other chores that she doesn't like to do and end up being a battle most days like keeping her room tidy, getting herself dressed, brushing her teeth, making her bed, ect. One thing I've learned is not to underestimate your childs ability.. expect a lot and you'll get more! Sometimes though you just have to lower your standards.. like I just have to deal with the clothes not being perfectly folded. It was hard at first, but since Brooke has had more practice she's folding almost as good as me!:-D

[Blessed 2 B Zoe]

Thanks Ashlee thats sounds cool, Sinead has to take responsibilty for her school clothes including washing them. She has to pu her things away and empty her lunch box, which is a battle lol.

I have tried her with the washing and dusting and stuff, think I will try her with some more chores. Its a shame I have an upright vac as she can not hoover the room with it as its too heavey but she does like to try.

Hows things with you? hows the new bundle?

[~Tara~]

Hmm I have to think back to my elders now...my nearly 5 yr old doesn't have a lot of responsibility yet. Not regular chores so much anyway, but will do various things as I ask. Anywho..some things she at least does..whether as an 'expected chore' or as a task of the moment that I have assigned:

*makes bed - expected daily
*tidy room - expected daily
*bring dirty clothes down to laundry room when the basket is full - expected once or twice a week
*dust - when asked
*sweep - when asked
*vacuum the trash area (our trash can is in a cabinet, on a pull out..she will pull it out, remove the can and vacuum the whole cabinet) - when asked
*wipe down the cabinet and drawer fronts - when asked
*vacuum around the edges of the kitchen, under the cabinets, toe kick area - when asked
*set table - when asked, but generally a few times a week
*fold & put away clothes - when asked she folds, always puts away her own clothes
*gather bathroom trash and put in a new bag - when asked, sometimes once a week
*helps clear the table after meals - almost nightly now
*is expected to put her dishes in the dishwasher after every meal
*helps unload the dishwasher occasionally (it's one of the boy's jobs, she asks to help sometimes)

HTH a bit. The key is just 'expect' her to do things. Of course if she's not been doing much at all, you can't just pile on a lot of regular chores. But you can add in a small thing or two and *expect* that she help with that. There's nothing wrong with that. Just tell her that X is now her special important job. She will still need reminding, she's only 5. My 11 yr old still needs reminding on some things sometimes :p Just politely remind/ask about X task.

[Blessed 2 B Zoe]

Thanks T that helps a lot, at the moment I just ask Sinead to help with things on a Saturday. She does have daily things to do but they do not get done all the time. By the time she comes home from school I am usually so tierd that she pushes her boundraies a lot.

Sorry cnt spell lol, I am going to try a lot harder with her and make her have a bigger role in the house. This way she can earn treats and that sort of thing.

I have to remember that I am a good mom and stop putting myself down as I feel my lack of confidence in parenting may back fire on me one day.:-(

[~Tara~]

That's right Zoey...you ARE a good mom. And that shows as you try to give your dd some responsibility. :) Make a game of clean up time and small treats are a great incentive! Maybe start a chore chart...if she gets at least 5 stars (smiley faces, stickers, whatever you choose) for the week that could earn her a small treat of some sort. Or I have heard of some giving out a BIG sticker at the end of the week (after they have earned the minimum of 5) then at the end of the month, 4 big stickers = a nicer treat.

You can do it Zoey. Stay confident. You ARE doing a fine job with Sinead :)

[Blessed 2 B Zoe]

Thanks T, I am telling myself everyday that I am a good mum and that I can do it.

With me being ill I feel bad to Sinead as I have not been the mummy I should be to her. I am trying though and I am making sure that I do things with her.

[jamma]

Ooooo, the chore question. It is a tricky one, isn't it? We actually have this http://thepioneerwoman.com/homeschooling/2008/10/choreganizers/ which is super super cool. I love it. I did make fabric holders for the cards, but there's no reason you can't use the ones that are there.

The problem I have is that I forget what chores they did yesterday, what's an extra chore, blah blah blah... So really the chart is for me. I choose which chores they're going to do, put them in the pocket, and they have the day to finish them. They snap them on the holder when they've finished that chore. My kids are 6, 5 and 2, btw.

[mamallama]

Zoey,

I have been making the kids their own chore charts from this site: http://www.dltk-cards.com/chart/ and assigning four chores a week. I give them one gold star for every one they complete. If their chart is full by the end of the week, they earn one quarter for every chore for a total of four quarters. I ask that they make their beds, help with laundry, help with dishes, feed our cat, keep their room clean, pick up toys when asked, etc.

HTHS. How are things going with Sinead? :)

[Tammyn4As]

We have a jar for each kid with their name on it. Every time they do a job or a subject in school I put a m&m in the jar. They can have them at the end of the week. They like to see who can get the most M&Ms. I give them a base of M&Ms to start with. If one talks back or is disrespectful to me I get to eat one of their M&Ms in front of them. If they wrong another child then that child gets one of the offending childs M&Ms. Works great for us.

[JoyLynn]

Around the time each or our kids reached five years old, I'd write out a list of their daily chores and tape it to the back of their bedroom door. We all do chores together at the same time every day. The kids would look at their list on the backs of their doors and do their duties, one after another. When they were done, they'd come to me and ask for inspection. I'd tell them to run and check their lists one more time, and if they're sure they're done, call me and I'll join them in front of the list. This gave them every opportunity to make sure they hadn't forgotten anything. :-D

As for weekly chores, we don't have any. We do the whole house every day, so the chores remain the same. Monday has always been our deep cleaning day and we work together doing that, as well. The kids do their regular stuff, and then come to me for more chores to do. Now that they're older, though, they just head off and start doing what they know we'll end up doing that day. Every Monday is pretty much the same.

My kids thank me OFTEN for the way keep up the house. Because we do our chores every day and the house stays nice, no chore is challenging, time consuming, or gross. Plus, all of us working together is fun and the pace is fast. We're done in a hurry and they're free to live their lives without chores hanging over their heads. [claploud]

[chorevacuum] [chorewashclothes]

Joy [welcomewave]

[Mo2b1d]

Our kids are 2.5 and 5.5 years right now.

We don't really give the kids their own official chores right now. What we do instead, is to try to teach the kids to take care of things like this " If you get it out, put it up. If you sleep on it, make it up. If you wear it, hang it up. If you drop it, pick it up. If you dirty it, wash it. If you open it, close it. If you turn it on, turn it off. If it rings, answer it. If it howls, feed it. If it cries, love it."

We have family "rules" so to speak, that go along with this, and our kids learn from the age where they can first carry a cereal bowl to the dishwasher.

-After every meal, everyone helps put away the food and clear plates and put them in the dishwasher.

-Clothes get put in the hamper or down the laundry chute depending on what type they are at the time they're taken off.

-Everybody available helps fold and put away clean laundry.

-If the floor needs to be cleaned, the kids help vaccuum or use the wet swiffer or mop. They don't know that's work though :lol And the vac is a canister vac, so we just take out one of the hose extensions and it becomes kid sized.

-If dusting needs to be done...they help. Even if the end result isn't as good as I like, I don't complain.

-If windows get dirtied, they help clean them. I use a spray bottle with a water/vinegar/dishwashing liquid mixture and it's safe for them to get on everything and themselves too. I do have to do the finishing touches though on the windows. Though if they're doing this often enough, they eventually do get all the dirty spots. Instead of worrying about it, I have a cool story to tell about how the kids were washing the windows if someone spots streaks or missed smears from the kids :lol

-If they make a spill or a mess, we just ask them to help clean it up. No big deal, yk?

- They also clean up/help clean up toys when asked and help do anything else that needs to be done when asked.

Right now, we do have to ask, but the kids are pretty good about not complaining too much, and they are starting to understand how to clean up after them selves and to clean other common areas of the house because it's part of being a family. They do NOT clean the bathroom though. I don't trust them in there, because I want things REALLY clean, and I don't want anybody swabbing the toilet bowl and then wiping off the bathroom counter or the toothbrush holder with the same cloth :lol It's also their job to feed the dog, though they do need to be reminded to do it.

To be honest, this all was partially my dh's idea. He's a Navy guy, and he really feels it's important for men to have all the skills to take care of themselves completely once they leave their mom and dad's home. He doesn't think it's respectable for guys to NOT be able to completely care for themselves, including knowing how to make enough nutritional meals to be able to survive and knowing how to wash and iron their own dress shirts.

[LaDonna]

Dh and I have been discussing types of chores for our girls to start doing around our home. We finally agreed on the specifics and I made the list tonite. Each girl has their own chart with their name and their assigned chores listed for the week. We have decided on giving an allowance and using the allowance to also teach our girls about tithing.....wish us luck we start tomorrow. I thought it would work good starting tomorrow and get things going before they head back to school next week.

[Blessed 2 B Zoe]

Hi guys sorry still not rcving email notification, got to remember to ask admin bout it.

Me and Sinead are doing great, I am recovring well from my operation it has just taken time. I am slowly asking Sinead to do small chores but I am bad to stick at them.

I am very excited about the new year as I want to change and am looking forward to making changes in the house. I am going to let her help a lot more and give her more responsibilties.