Chores for your children.....

[unionwirewoman]

Just curious on what chores other families have for their children . We have a 13 yr old and I would like to see what some others on here expect from their kids on responsibilities .

 

[debilorrah]

#1 - take out the trash!!!! Clean up after dinner - we work - you clean, keep your room and bathroom clean. and no pay for those chores. if they want money, they do extra, such as clean the coop, wash cars, vacuum, etc.

 

[CountryMom]

My oldest is 12 which is pretty close. She takes her turn at laundry or dishes for the week. That is opposite my 9 year old daughter. Mind you I do a couple of times a week also, so they aren't sole responsible. I do add in other chores per week like a room in the house, her bedroom, and specialty chores like today she completely cleaned out all our bators (3.) She is also in charge of keeping her school area in our homeschool cabinet clean.

My 12 year old is in charge of half the feeding of critters and all of her horses/ponies. She has two training ponies, one ranch QH, one of her personal ponies, and her cutting horse. She also helps clean guinea pig cages once a week along with her brother and sister as it is their business. She is my main groomer here as well and does a banner job. That is one chores she actually begs to do! All our show horses/ponies are regularly groomed and mane and tails kept by one of us woman.

She works on the side for our cutting horse trainer on the weekend at shows. There she is expected to warm up each horse she is given to his expectations and then take it after its showing and unsaddle, water and wash the horse. Most times she will spend all day in the saddle and can't wait for the next show.

My 9 year old does pretty much the same including the riding. My 7 year old son has a little less chores, but then he isn't capable of more at his age.

All that and more than enough time to play outside, hunt, fish, go off and visit friends or have them over.

 

[AngelzFyre]

Clean up after themselves in the house. Keep their rooms and bathrooms clean. Wash their dishes when done ( if eating when no one else is), and put your own laundry in the wash, fold what's in the dryer and put in basket if I haven't done it. Bring sheets and towels into the hamper to be done. Son takes trash out daily and takes can to the curb on garbage day.
Both feed/water the animals, this includes dogs, cats, horses, chickens.
All of those chores are divided. My son does the dogs and cats and my daughter and I do the horses and chickens. They change the waters out and make sure all feed areas are kept in order and let me know what feed we need for the week.
They also walk the 2 inside dogs regularly and daughter helps me groom the labs and horses. I do a lot of this stuff with them just because I enjoy it, but it also teaches them what is involved in having all the animals we have and how to take care of and look for injuries or health problems.
Once a week, each of them cooks a meal and cleans up afterward. This can be breakfast, lunch or supper.
They've always had chores and helped around the house and I've tried to integrate the "team" aspect of running a household since they were small.
Works well for us and they almost always have a good attitude because they know what's expected and how much I appreciate the help.
Good luck!

 

[Dill]

For me, take care of my pets, do my schoolwork, keep bedroom clean, and not leave my animal's things laying around.

 

[redhead83402]

We have a dishes rotation chart ( dishes, dinner, set table, clear table, & food put away), as well as being assigned a 6 month chore ~ in other words, they are responsible for that particular chore for 6 months at a time! It works VERY WELL, because EVERYONE knows who has what chore when. No arguing about who's turn it is to do this or that, no complaining that " I can't do it till she gets HER part done". None of that. My kids are ages 16, 16 ( my daughters' friend has moved in with us), 15, 13, 12, & 10.

They ALL ( including the 10 yr old son!) have had this list of chores in addition to the ones listed above :

Chicken care, build a fire, make the bread (that's a 3 times a day chore, but only takes 5 minutes each time), sweep the kitchen & front hallway, clean the front/school room, clean the living room, upstairs bathroom, downstairs bathroom, vaccuum & dust hallways & stairs, laundry & linen closet, & rake leaves/water/mow grass/ shovel snow.

Another advantage of the 6 month chore rotation is that the kids get really fast about their chore ( Friday's or Saturdays they have to do a deep clean), & can generally get it done within 10 - 30 minutes, depending on what day it is, & whether or not they've been putting it off.
I guess I was about 3 or 4 when I started cooking, and about 6 when I started cooking things like eggs & boxed stuff ~ same with all of my kids ~ in fact, they have dinner, meal planning & grocery budget assignments now. You can tell when it's the 10-yr old's turn, he makes up something fast & easy, like pasta salad or burritos or baked potatoes. And not from a box.
My kids have all learned fractions, chemical reaction, and consistent outcome through cooking as well. Not to mention meal planning, budgeting & buying from a pre-made menu, & the value of cooking from scratch as opposed to boxed. Each kid has one month, $150, and a grocery list that they are responsible for. They are so good at it that I know it's gonna suck mightily when they leave home, and I will have the job of it again 24-7, instead of getting 5 months off like I do now. ;-D
~Red

 

[Leah-yes I know I'm crazy]

My 7yo has a routine of things to do in the evenings. We don't call it chores or jobs, it's just things that need to be done to function. Bring in firewood, feed animals, put away clean laundry, tidy up room before dinner, help make dinner sometimes if we are having something he can help with, set and clear table. I am know to cut him slack on nights he has events like scouts by bringing in wood and he always says thanks because he knows it's his job. On sat. mornings he works at the church, and on Sunday evenings he orgainzes his and his 4yo brother's clothes for week by putting everything for a day on one hanger including unders. The only pay he gets is that he is allowed to sell one or two dozen eggs/wk to a neighbor for spending money. I'm tough.

 

[Dar]

I have a 16 year old his chores are...Bringing the clean laundry up stairs and sort it to the proper persons room, dishes, and every saturday he cleans the bathrooms

my 11 year old ...he vaccuums every saturday, and sweeps, brings the dirty laundry downstairs, and looks after the recycling from sorting it to bringing it down to the curb

my 6 year old...helps her brother with the recycling, helps me strip and re make all 4 beds in the house on saturdays, she helps me fold the laundry, feeds the dogs, cats

they need to do the above mentioned chores on top of keeping their room clean and homework, they do this for no money it is ur team work effort...if they want money they need to help me with the chicken coop, rake leaves, wash walls, snow removal(seasonal), grass cutting..and many more "extras" to earn money

 

[smom1976]

we have a 7 year old that takes care of feeding and watering the chickens. (she loves it, doesnt think it is a chore at all) she also feeds and waters the cat, and lets us know when we need more food.. my 8 year old and 7 year old empty the dishwasher. We have a really dumb dog in the back yard that destroys it so they go out and help pick up all the chewed up pieces of things. They vaccume. Keep their rooms cleaned up and they tag team their bathroom.. Now my step children that is a whole different story... Their mother does everything for them.. she even does the 13 year olds homework.. they never have to do any chores at their house.. Here they complain about it, and half the time dad lets them get out of it.. but ultimatly I am not responsible for their well being I am on the other hand responsible for my childrens.. so .. oh well..

 

[HennysMom]

my 17 yo (I say 18 tho because she'll be 18 in less than a month) has had the following chores since she was 13:

dishes 3 times a week, clean the bathroom twice a week, keep her room clean, feed the dog (when he was alive), empty cat box once a week. At 15-16 she began doing her own laundry after refusing to help me do it, so - I stopped doing hers and if she wanted clothing, she had to wash her own. She learned very quickly if she wanted clean clothes, she had to wash them! She now has assigned laundry days and if she doesnt do her clothes, she has none to wear. She helps sweep and vaccum (on occasion) and also now since getting chickens (they wanted them and I am the one who was against them - go figure as they are now my pets and responsibility moreso than anyone elses) must help clean the coop out and feed the chickens in the morning.


Our 10 yo son must dust (swiffer), keep his room clean, help set up for dinner, he likes to sweep on occasion and also vaccuum, he feeds the cat and empties the bathroom trash, he is terrified of the chickens now because one pecked him

and now screams like a girl whenever they come near him (what a sight that is with neighbors looking on I assure you!) so, he isnt much help in that dept. He helps with dishes once in a while and he actually likes to help me cook dinner where his sister hates to do any cooking at all (memo to self - dinner at her house will consist of frozen TV dinners when invited over LOL!)

Yard work is done by the family for the most part (but son hates it and whines) and so is the gardening. All of the days that are in between are done by me as well as all other areas.

We started assigning little chores via a chore chart at the age of 5 for both our kids (pick out clothes, pick up shoes, toys, brush teeth, etc). I dont believe in allowance for my children on a weekly basis because our kids get whatever they want anyway however - if they do something over and above, we will in that instance, pay them for services (i.e,. pull weeds out of the garden by themselves, help plant trees, rake leaves vs. using the riding mower)