Do your kids have chores?

[Mycookoonest]

Quote:

I second that!!!!!!! This is how I feel about what we're going through now!

I'm still trying to get Wes to eat real food! His idea of dinner is cake-cake and Scream (Ice cream) Nope sorry honey that's Mommy's dinner! Looks like you get green beans and chicken!

 

[sunshineinsc]

All my kids have chores, 2 yr old to my 10 yr old. No I don't pay them. Like others said why pay them for cleaning up after themselves.

We are a family and a family works together to make the family work. When they get in college will someone do their cooking, cleaning or laundry? No. I'm teaching them to take care of themselves and not have to depend on someone else.

There reward for helping out is more time we can spend doing things together. If they need or want something we buy it for them. If they go somewhere and need $$ I'll send some with them.

 

[DuckLady]

I would rather be pecked to death by a duck.

 

[dangerouschicken]

Oh god how I loathe potty training.

 

[fullhouse]

Yes, they have chores and no I don't pay them. I have a 11 yo dd and at about 9-10 that "preteen" stage kicked in and the days are all whine, mope, and complain. She can do extra for money when she wants it.

 

[fullhouse]

Quote:
Me too.

 

[Mycookoonest]

Now for potty training he does get rewards. For leaving Mommy alone when she's working from home he gets rewards.

 

[dangerouschicken]

Mine'll get nuthin and like it!

 

[patandchickens]

When I was a kid (born 1965) I got a small allowance -- I think it was $2/wk in jr high or early high school -- but it was not linked to chores. We were expected to do our chores no matter what.

When challenged on this (on the basis of 'fairness' and 'that's not the way anyone else's family works') my mother's standard reply was that SHE was expected to do HER chores without a paycheck, and she would be happy to renegotiate the whole arrangement if we wanted to do our own laundry, cook our own meals, etcetera.

This was fairly convincing to me at the time

It still is actually - I think there are a lot of things in life that you should just do because they are your responsibility to pitch in with. Too many people these days seem to have the attitude of 'well if there is no direct payoff for me then I'm not going to bother'.

I will pay the kids for specific jobs over and beyond the normal realm of chores. Actually our just-turned-4-yr-old has now earned a grand total of 50 cents in his lifetime (in the last few months specifically) - a quarter for helping pick woodchips out of his grandparents' lawn after the stumpgrinder visited, and a quarter for loading, moving and dumping about 8 kiddie-wheelbarrow loads of pine branches.

Of course we will see how well it works when he is 13 but then I think you run into trouble with them then no matter WHAT you do, anyhow

Pat

 

[arlee453]

I have 4 kids. 11.5 yr old girl and 3 boys aged 10, 8 and 5.5. I also have VERY strong opinions about this very topic. You may disagree, but I can tell you what works at my house, and as long as I'm here and am responsible for making responsible, hard working adults out of my children, this is the way it will be.

I absolutely DO NOT believe in paying for chores that involve basically chipping in to do their OWN cleanup or their OWN messes.

My kids make up 2/3rds of the family. They make 90%+ of the mess. Period. They can clean up their own messes - the good Lord was gracious enough to give them strong and healthy bodies, so there are no excuses.

They are expected to keep their rooms clean - it doesn't have to be perfect...my rule is nothing on the floor but furniture, and vaccum 1x per week.

They are expected to do dishes as needed/daily and vacuum/clean up the kitchen at least 1x per week. I cook. They eat, they can clean up the mess.

They are expected to clean THEIR bathroom - I do supervise them here to make sure they are safe with the cleaning products and not going overboard, but they do the work. Again, if they choose to pee all over the toilet, they will be the ones to clean it up. Amazingly, since this rule was instituted, the boys 'aim' has improved 100%.

They are expected to pickup, dust and vaccum the common living areas. Again, most of the mess here is theirs - they can clean it up.

They are expected to bring me their dirty clothes. I do the washing and fold/sort the clean clothes into bins - one for each kid. They then are responsible for coming to get their clothes and putting them away. Even the 5 yr old...

I also ask my oldest to help with mowing, and all the kids are expected to chip in some with cleaning up and feeding up the animals, although I do most of that since they are techincally MY critters. As the others get big enough to ride the mower, they will take turns with the mowing. Right now I do one week, and my DD does the next.

And, how long does all of this hard work take? If they keep up with it when I ask... about 2 hours tops per week, not counting the mowing. I don't think that is anything like child slavery or anything.

Interestingly enough, since I've gotten stricter about this issue at my house, my house stay 75% cleaner than it ever used to. They have learned along the way that it's easier to avoid making the mess in the first place, OR to clean up immediately when they pull out toys, etc than to have to clean it all up at a later time.

I just believe it is waaaayyyyy wrong to PAY children to clean up after themselves. Paying them also has you wind up with the problem that some have already posted - that they think once they have a 'real' job they don't need to do their chores anymore at home. WRONG. They should be expected to clean up their own messes. Who is going to pay them when they grow up and have their own house?

In my opinion, paying them for cleaning up after themselves just teaches children a sense of 'entitlement', which is a MAJOR problem with today's kids. Nobody pays ME to clean up my own house & messes. Why should I pay THEM to clean up the messes they make?

I might add, that my parents didn't pay me to clean up after myself either, OR give me an 'allowance'. When I needed money for something I just asked.

I tell you what - that made me think long and hard about whatever it was before I asked for money for it. Most of the time my parents said OK. Sometimes they said NO. Amazingly enough, somehow I managed to turn out OK without a pocket full of money earned by doing stuff that I should have been responsible for anyway OR without getting everything I wanted.

I have decided to follow their example and we do not give allowances, either. My kids do not want for anything. I provide them food, clothing, shelter and plenty of extras too. If they want to save up money for something they can save up gifts they are given throughout the year, ask mom and dad for a contribution. If they have been responsible in doing their duties around the house (note, DUTIES....not chores) then we are much more likely to pitch in towards whatever they want to get.

They will learn the value of hard work and taking care of themselves if I have anything to do with it, and I don't think that expecting them to clean up after themselves is too much to ask or some sort of torture for them. It's what we ALL have to learn to do for ourselves at some point or another.