So what chores do your kids do?

[mommy2_3]

my kids ages 2 & 3

pick up their toys in the living room

bring the dirty clothes to the washer

and help me with their little sister (just like giving her her binky if it falls out or just talking to her)

my youngest is only 3 months so she just lays there lol

 

[canadianjovigirl]

My DD is 15, DS 11 and DD 9 and they dont have assigned chores as per say other than to keep their rooms clean and DD 9 sets table for super, DS clears table from super and DD15 empties the dishwasher.

They all keep their rooms tidy and make their beds and bring their laundry to the laundry room and put away their clean clothes

On housecleaning day everyone helps and its done in an afternoon...they can all clean bathrooms, vacumn, sweep, dust etc............

 

[jldunbar]

Buttttt mommmmmmmmmmm, I need a break from cleaning my room and the loft (hangout area), it is too much to do in one day

We leave Tues at 5:30am, if its not done she doesn't go (not that I would ever leave her home but she doesn't know that)

 

[nchulka]

DD8
vacuums carpeted floors once a week
cleans all mirrors and sinks once a week
folds all towels/washcloths on laundry day
empty dishwasher daily

DS6
Vacuums non-carpeted floors once a week
dust 2 room per week
brings out and sorts all laundry on laundry day
empty trash cans daily

BOTH
Vacuum own room once a week
put away and hang up their own laundry on laundry day
brown meat and make simple meals like spaghetti (ragu with ground beef) etc.
get themselves showered and ready in the morning without any reminding

 

[sk!mom]

Why? they live in the house and are part of our family,we all make messes together,so we all are responsible for cleaning it up together! By segregating 'school' as the kids 'job' they may start to believe that if they're busy with other things in life,the usual rules just won't apply to them..i.e. 'normal' person rules-as in,most of us don't have personal maids and butlers,so life is all about responsibilties,along with education and recreation...... learning to manage oneself,and ones time is a gift we can give our kids very early in life.....

My surprise at the amount of chores some kids are doing has nothing to do with me thinking they shouldn't contribute. I'm surprised that kids have that much time for chores. I only know firsthand the experiences of my family and those close to me in real life. Most of the kids and teens I know personally, DD included, are very busy with school, extra-curriculars, and homework.

My DD is very organized and disciplined so I have no worries there. She contributes to the family just doesn't have a set list of jobs but neither does anyone else in this house. That's just not how we operate and it works for us.

When DD's home she pitches in with whatever chores need to be done.

 

[Mom2apirate&princess]

Their first job is school but they both do chores at home.

DS 12 1/2
Room
folds laundry
vacuums when asked
mows the lawn
picks up after the dog

DD 8
room
cleans off the table
bathroom
picks up after the dog

 

[hanutedmansionmomma]

my youngest is only 3 months so she just lays there lol

dd16 has a job - been so nice to not have to give her (or argue about NOT giving her) movie money

both kids ds 12, dd16 help around the house as asked with
dishes
lawn mowing
cat feeding
garbage
getting mail
vacuuming
lugging in groceries
they each make dinner one night of the week - their choice of menu


We tried an allowance system when they were much younger, paying them 5 cents for each trip to the mailbox, or setting the table for example. That was a nightmare to keep track of, and left too much room for negotiating (they didn't want 25 cents, so they wouldn't feed the cat...) so almost immediately we went back to that you just help out when it's needed.

Now that they're older, they mostly get $ for xmas and birthday so that lasts them quite a while. If they need $ for something reasonable, we generally pay for it.

 

[Starbrite]

DS13
Unload Dishwasher - Everything above counter level
Take out garbage (both out of the house & to the curb weekly)
Mow lawn & weedwack occasionally
Laundry (he can do everything except the settings on the washer)
Keep room clean
Clean kids bathroom (this is primarily his job since he's the one that has a problem aiming for the toilet)

DD8
Unload Dishwasher - Everything below counter level
Bring garbage can in from the road after pick-up
Prep lawn for mowing (pick up toys, park bikes, clear out sticks)
Laundry (she helps load washer, fold & put away what she can reach)
Keep room clean

 

[powellrj]

My kids have been helping with the housework for longer than I can remember. They are also honor students, and very involved in extracurriculars, but they have an hour a week to do housework.

I will say we are in a different situation because I work full-time and suffer from arthritis, so they need to help out or it will never get done. Since I had both of my knees replaced, I can no longer kneel, so things that involve me on my knees are automatically their jobs.

DS 19 only lives at home in the summer now, but when he is home he vacuums, cleans mirrors and the bathroom and does the yard.

DD is 14 and she dusts and keeps things picked up and put away. She also sets and clears the table while DH does the dishes.

I do the laundry and fix the meals.

 

[Jennifer in MI]

My older three rotate the following chores:

clean their bathroom/bedrooms
sweep, mop steps
clean, vacuum, mop basement (play room)
mop kitchen
sweep porches/use broom to get all spiderwebs off the house
clean front and back glass doors
weed flower beds
dust floorboards
empty dishwasher

Older two:
Mow, edge, whip lawn

4 yo dd:
Whatever I ask of her!!

In all, I think all of that takes them less than 2 hours/week. Not too bad!!!

 

[MomToOne]

My DD10 has to:
- Clean own room and playroom. This includes making bed/picking up daily, changing sheets/dusting/etc as needed.
- Feed cat daily
- Pick up living room as needed
- Help empty dishwasher
- Bring all laundry downstairs on laundry day, take her own laundry back upstairs when done and put away
- Take out all household garbage
- Wash car when needed
- Help with cooking as requested (mostly things like peeling potatoes, chopping veggies, etc.)
- Do anything else that is requested WITHOUT ATTITUDE - that's usually where the war breaks out though

And, based on the attitude issues, I'm convinced she's not doing nearly enough, so I am looking to add to the list!

 

[MomToOne]

I agree...I'm surprised by how much some kids are doing.

I think it's just as important to teach children life skills as it is for them to learn the textbook stuff. Keeping up a home is part of that.

I had someone stop me in the grocery store just yesterday. She told me she had seen my daughter picking out some nectarines and was concerned she was shopping by herself at such a young age (10). Then she saw me OKing what my daughter had just picked out, and figured out I was just making her help me. She said her children wouldn't know how to pick out good fruit if they had to and was impressed my daughter clearly knew what she was doing!!

 

[disneydreamersx4]

my kids ages 2 & 3

pick up their toys in the living room

bring the dirty clothes to the washer

and help me with their little sister (just like giving her her binky if it falls out or just talking to her)

my youngest is only 3 months so she just lays there lol

THAT IS TOO CUTE!!! Just lays there

I'm a SAHM so I don't give them alot to do during the school year but now that it's summer it's time to get some help

DD12
unload dishwasher
keep room clean
put clothes away
walk dog two times a day
babysit for sister once in a while
learn how to clean the bathroom sink and tub
help younger sis clean the baseboard moulding in the whole house (this is a new chore)

DD9
put clean silverware away
keep room clean
put clothes away
set table, get drinks for supper
help big sis clean the moulding in the whole house (new chore)

For their chores DD12 gets texting on her cell phone
DD9 gets $1 a week but might up that to $2

 

[stm61]

the amount of chores varies by age and ability. My oldest does more then the younger ones, which will change when he gets a real job, should he ever get a driver's license (I'm making him wait until he shows common sense lol)
Ds16: use riding mower/tractor to cut grass, burn trash, take out trash/recycling, feed/water his animals, clean boy's bathroom
DD's11: rotate weekly wash dishes/put up dishes/clean counters & table. They rotate with ds16 so they each wash dishes every 3 weeks, hang out laundry or put in/take out of dryer, fold clothes and put away their own, clean girl's bathroom
Dd7: help put up silverware, pots, pans (she's to short to reach cabinets), sweep floor (ds16 will resweep if needed), feed cats, refill dog and cats water bowls, help fold clothes and put own away
Ds4: help put up silverware/pots/pans (he usually does the pots/pans that are under the counters so noone else has to bend all the way down there), feed/water dogs (feeding is under supervision since he tends to be overly generous with food), put own clothes in correct drawers
They are all responsible for keeping their rooms resonably picked up. Ds16 is usually pressed into service for whatever job Dh is working on, since school is out now. If he's working with dad, the girls will do some of his chores if they're able to. Ds doesn't know it yet, but some of his grass cutting will hopefully be passed on to dd's 11 this summer. They should be able to reach the pedals on the riding mower now. Everyone but ds4 also has an assigned room (family, living) that they have to keep picked up and vacuumed. Ds16 has the kitchen overall, which means he does the mopping. One dd11 does family room, other dd11 does living room, dd7 helps both dd's11 with picking up and dusting low areas. Ds4 also helps with low dusting and moving things for the vacuum.

 

[leagirl12]

DS 12 and DD 11 are both responsible for picking up their rooms and after themselves around the house which I don't think is really a chore but just what you do kind of thing.

The only set chores they have are loading and unloading the dishwasher and folding/hanging up clean laundry. They share this chore....one week one does dishes the entire week and the other does laundry for the week and then they swap it the following week.

And no allowance for chores in our household either....I don't get paid for all of the housework I do so neither do they. Now we do give them the opportunity to do extra chores around the house ( ex. dusting, sweeping, washing windows) for money but they rarely volunteer for that.

 

[DonnaBelle2005]

I just sat down with my two kids last Fri to work on a chore chart for the summer....

DS 10 & DD 8:
Take dog out for potty breaks M-F PM time (him) AM time (her)
M/W/F help unload/load dish washer (Him) Tu/Th (Her)
Make up bed daily (best of their knowledge)
Put away toys daily
Bring down dirty clothes/put away clean ones
and a few other small things

For this they will earn $5 a wk allowance plus I will take them once a week to free movie, community pool, spray park/playground, and then once a month they can go to things like Bounc U, Monkey Joes, Chuck-E-Cheese, etc.

I have to have help around the house, and refuse to have couch kids....

 

[figment301]

Daughters ages 7 and 8

We have a daily checklist and they earn pennies per item. Once they have earned all the pennies in the jar (there are the same amount of pennies per item x number of days in a week) they can pick one "prize" dinner out, take out and rent a movie, etc... Just a way to get my girls to do the things they should do every day but were not doing on their own. lol

Turning off the lights when they leave a room
make their beds
pick up toys
put laundry in hamper
put shoes, coats, backpacks etc... where they belong
follow directions when told lol
bring dishes to the sink and rinse

They can also lose pennies for yelling, fighting, etc... with each other

But they also help with bringing laundry to the laundry room, folding laundry, putting away their own laundry.

Loading and Emptying the dishwasher

Basically they help out as needed. Sometimes fighting the whole way.

 

[mommy23kids]

My kids earn computer, video game, etc. time if they do their chores. I won't remind them to do their chores, if they haven't done them, they simply don't get time to do those things.
How many chores they have is equal to their age and they chose their own chores with my help.

DS 12
Empty dishwasher
switch clothes from washer to dryer
Help me fold laundry
put away his own clean laundry
make bed
sweep kitchen and dining room floors
Feed dogs
vacuum daycare room and living room daily
Take out trash
practice his trombone

Can't remember his other chores right now, but this summer he is also helping me with my home daycare. All of my Summer daycare kids are girls around my daughter's ages except for one boy in Kindergarten so I am paying my son $10 a day to help with him. I only have this boy 2 days a week so not a bad little part time job for him to learn some responsibility.

DD 8
make bed
help fold laundry
put away her clean clothes
make sure dogs have clean water
clean room daily
clean up living room
feed cat
sweep front porch

DD 7
take clothes out of dryer
wipe off bathroom sinks
make bed
pick up own toys
wipe dining room table
feed and water turtle
wipe down counters

On Fridays WE spend about an hour doing the weekly stuff together like change sheets and dust and vacuum bedrooms etc.. Their daily chores only take about 30 minutes spread throughout the day so still leaves plenty of time for them to play and be a kid.

 

[Disnydad]

18 & 19. Both do the clean up and dishes after dinner. Both do their own laundry and clean their rooms. Son mows the lawn & cleans the basement rec room as he spends the most time there. (daughter tried the lawn but is afraid of rolling the tractor over). Daughter gives the two dogs their baths once a week.