Kid's Chores- ideas?? Thoughts??

[mudnuri]

My kids have to keep their rooms clean...thats about it.

I have some anal tendancies which make it very hard for me to relinquish any household duties. I prefer to do things myself to make sure they are done correctly... well, that has to come to an end.

This fall I'll be back with 18 credits in school, and there is no way I can do that, maintain my 3.8 and keep up with the housework to my standards. So, my thought is I will 'train' the kids now during the summer to do things 'my way' and it can continue through the school year.

Are your kids chores set up on a day schedule? Like- DD10 vacumes monday, DD8 cleans the bathroom. etc.. or do they have weekly chores to get done by a certain day?

Thoughts? HELP! I think the only thing I will not be able to let go is the bathroom, thats a big issue for me, and I clean the toilet etc. daily...

Thanks
Brandy

 

[TheDisneyTraveler06]

I also want to do everything myself- to make sure its perfect- the way I like it.

My DD14 has to was the dishes daily, and DS5 feeds the dogs twice a day. They both have to make sure their rooms are clean, and that's about all that their daily chores are.

Weekly chores are a different story.

Hope this helps.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

Can you come to my house?

you have more of schedule then i ever had!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Well...the thing is, people cannot "do it" your way so you have to accept that first.
You have to settle for another person's "way".
It is not easy to do this....

Taking 18 credits and having kids do chores is setting yourself up for insanity!

Probably should have them do it NOW, and see how you handle it without the school pressure first.

 

[TheDisneyTraveler06]

Can you come to my house?

you have more of schedule then i ever had!

Sure! LOL

 

[tkd lisa]

Assuming that your kids are 8 and 10 (the ages in your example). Reasonable chores can include:

Loading/unloading the dishwasher
Running the vacuum (I wish I had done this younger. DD can't handle the noise now since she never did it).
Swifer the kitchen/bathroom floors (wouldn't mess with a mop at that age!)
sorting laundry
putting their clothes away
dusting

I make a list for my kids each day. They get 25 cents per job (I'll make the jobs small, like 25 cents per room they sweep). They are 14 and almost 13.

 

[mudnuri]

Well...the thing is, people cannot "do it" your way so you have to accept that first.
You have to settle for another person's "way".
It is not easy to do this....

Taking 18 credits and having kids do chores is setting yourself up for insanity!

Probably should have them do it NOW, and see how you handle it without the school pressure first.

Thats what i'm planning on doing- I did it last year, and it was not fun...We're home for the summer, they have 6 weeks left to get the swing of chores LOL...

I make a list for my kids each day. They get 25 cents per job (I'll make the jobs small, like 25 cents per room they sweep). They are 14 and almost 13.

Are they the same things each monday for instance? Like 14 does dishes monday etc.. or do you vary the list each day?

I'm thinking- a chore chart on the fridge would work. Right now they are hoeing out their rooms LOL and not having much fun doing so ...But my thought is:
vac the floors- I do this at least once a day- 1600 sq ft of hardwood.
swiffer wet - same floors-
dust each room
clean the chin cage (this will require my help)
They already put their dishes in the dishwasher, and I run it when I go to bed, then put it all away in the morning when I get up.

Thoughts?

Brandy

 

[marybet]

I have been wondering what other people require their children to do. My grandchildren are visiting, DGS is 13 and DGD is 12. DGD has to do the entire families laundry, they of course have to do their own rooms and bathrooms. DGS does the dishes, feeds the animals, also helps with the yard work. They both say that they dust and sweep and sometimes they cook. I think it is to much responsibility for them. I also wonder what their mother does.

I just found out that they pack their own clothes, which explains some of the things they wear.

Maybe I was a little to easy on my boys when they were growing up, they had a few chores but nothing major. Am I wrong to think that the grandchildren are doing to much? Also they aren't that good at it, DGD was cleaning the bathroom that they use (the only thing I ask of them is to keep their room clean) and she didn't lift the toilet seat before she used the cleaner. She's 12, and I guess I don't want my clothes to look like a 12 year old washed them, maybe I am just to picky.

 

[RUDisney]

First of all, hard work never killed anyone.

I give chores every day based on what needs to be done. It takes me about a minute to write down what each of them needs to do. I list their initial after the chore to decrease the amount of fighting that will occur if I didn't do that.

Today's chores were:

Unload dishwasher
vacuum 1st floor
dust 1st floor
magic eraser coat closet door
polish stainless steel refrigerator and dishwasher
put away dirt devil that DS used on the steps the other day before he shampooed them.
carry dirty clothes to basement.

Yesterday, they had to vacuum kitchen hardwood and wet mop kitchen (w/ clorox ready mop)
Clean glass in front door and rear doors
Clean their bathroom
Put away shoes in foyer & pick up all dog toys.
Vacuum 1st floor

I try to mix up the assignments because we had the same ones each day when I was growing up and it was really boring. I figure that if we only do what needs to be done it won't be that awful.

My kids are 10 and 11. They also have to do 1 hour per day of school work. They can read, do school books or go online and do 4th and 5th grade school work. We discuss this at dinner each night so they can tell us what they learned that day. Usually, they put in more than one hour each day. They also practice times tables for my DD and prepositions for my DS.

I'm grateful every day that they help me. My DH is the critical one because they don't always do things to his standards. I tell him all the time to shut up about it and be thankfult that they are such good kids.

 

[MI mom of 3]

I have 3 kids and they trade chores on the first of the month. We have a schedule so everyone knows which chore is theirs. Right now DD does the dishes, we have no dishwasher, DS has the laundry and other DS is in charge of garbage. As I said they trade off every month so everyone does everything. I think of it as preparing them for being adults. It helps that I am not one of those people that says things have to be done a certain way. As long as it is done I am happy with it.

 

[tkd lisa]

Mudnuri, to answer your question.

It isn't the same thing every day. I mix it up based on what needs to be done. And I usually assign about 1/2 of the list to a particular child, and the other half, they decide. That way, if one of them doesn't want to do something, the other one gets to earn the money. My only requirement is that it GETS done. If neither one will do it, when I come home the TV/internet is off until one of them agrees to do the chore. This can get entertaining! DD has been known to bribe DS to actually do something for more than the going rate. It goes something like "If you do the silverware, I'll clean the toilets for you tomorrow (each child is responsible for their own bathroom, and DS HATES doing his toilet!)" DS then says "No way! You didn't do it right last time and Mom made me re-do it. If you give me 3 check marks (each worth 25 cents), then I'll do it!"

As far as their rooms, DS and I made a new deal. During the week, it stays clean to his standards (basically, he can make his way to the bed, wet towels are off the floor, and no open food is in there). But on Saturday, it gets cleaned to my standards before TV/playstation.

DD does a better job of keeping it livable, so she only has to clean to my standards about once a month.

 

[Boston Tea Party]

First of all, hard work never killed anyone.

I believe it killed Paul Bunyan.

Not to mention my great-grandmother dropped dead while mowing the lawn...

 

[WDWfan36]

I just make time schedules. Like 8:30 put dishes away 9:00 and so on

 

[kimwim8]

What a coincidence...I was just going to create a chore chart for my kids. DD is 7 and DS is almost 5. Any ideas? Right now, they do things when I ask, but I'd like there to be more of a routine.

They both need to be better with their bedrooms and the toy room. DS loves to empty the recycle bucket (emptied into the bigger bucket in the garage) and DD loves to clean the toilets (can you imagine?).

I'll take any suggestions you have...I want them to both be self-sufficient adults who know how to take care of themselves and their home. That's my ultimate goal. I'm not looking to get out of doing things myself because I'm thinking at this age, I'm going to have to watch after them doing these chores anyway.

Thanks!!

 

[happybratpack]

When H & B come to visit they like doing chores for Disney Dollars. (4 & 7)

-Strip the beds & collect laundry around the house to go into laundry room
-Empty all bathroom/bedroom/office trash cans into trashbag
-Vaccum
-Clean back door window and the dog gates (they have plexiglass) all over the house of dog slobber
-Swiffer & Dust
-Brush the dogs

 

[KelNottAt]

My kids share the chores in many of the ways everyone has already posted. One other thing I can suggest is using an odd/even method for deciding who does what for everyday stuff (setting the table, unloading dishes, feeding pets, etc) and "favors for mom."

In our house, DS was born on the 8th and DD was born on the 19th. One is even, one is odd.

So if today is the 12th, it's even and DS's day to do the everyday stuff (like I've listed above). Also, if I need a favor (e.g., run this over to so-n-so's house, bop into 7-11 for milk and bread while I wait in the car, wrap a gift, etc) the odd-even rule determines who has to do it. It's great for eliminating the "why do I have to do it?" whine. My answer: "Because today's your day. That's why."

If your kids were both born on the same day type, you can still work with this. Perhaps first child is odd, second child is even.

Good luck,