Hi read,
Happy Thursday!!! I hope you've had a good week.
Today I want to talk about chores. As parents, it is SO easy to take on most of the household chores. Here are the top reasons I hear from parents about why their kids don't take on more responsibility:
"I always have to remind them."
"They don't do it well and I have to go back and do it right."
"I need to teach them and that takes so long I might as well do it myself."
Well, I am here to tell you that it is worth the investment to train kids to do household chores. Although you will probably have to spend more time in the short term, it is critical to the long term health of your family, your household, and your own mental health.
Here are my best tips for involving your kids with household chores:
1) Accept that you will have to remind them
Most kids don't have running to-do lists like many adults do. They're having too much fun to remember that they need to feed the dog.
I've accepted that I still have to remind my kids to do things. The good news is that we're very consistent in their chores. For example, my daughter Alice feeds the dog every afternoon. All I have to say is: "Afternoon Alice!" and she knows what to do.
The chore chart also helps with this if you're not already using it! Anyone over the age of two can use it because it's so simple.
2) Teach them and teach them again
We have been working on teaching the kids to fold clothes and load the dishwasher. Still, they frequently forget how to fold shirts or scrape plates or whatever. I've accepted that teaching kids to do chores is an ongoing parenting project, just like most other parenting endeavors. Eventually it will stick!
3) Be OK with imperfection
I am rarely a stickler for doing chores the right way (aka my way) EXCEPT when it comes to loading the dishwasher. I always rinse things completely before loading them in the dishwasher. My kids, on the other hand, frequently load things in weird places and leave peanut butter smears on their plates. You know what? It still comes out OK. I do enforce the "no food chunks" rule because that clogs the drain but I have learned to accept PB&J smears.
4) Don't forget to add chores as they get older
The older kids get, the more they can do. I recommend re-assessing your kid's chores at the start of each new school year. Expand their responsibilities as they get older. Switch around chores if you need to based on schedule changes.
5) Keep the timing consistent if possible
We try to keep the timing of chores exactly the same every day or week. For example:
- Kid 1 feeds the dog in the morning and Kid 2 feeds the dog in the afternoon
- Kids bring down their dirty laundry to the wash every Monday morning and put away clean laundry every Tuesday night
- Towels get washed every other Thursday
Structure is great for kids. When they know what to expect, they won't resist as much. You won't have to put as much effort into asking kids to do their chores and that's a huge win.
What chores do your kids do? How old are they?
My children are 8 and 10. I'm still learning to help everyone do their part to keep our household going, but we are always improving! The great news is that my kids can be very helpful now. It really feels good to have them take on responsibilities around the house.
Do you want more help with chores?
If so, I have two products that can help your household chores run VERY smoothly.
The first is the Kanban Kit. Kanban was originally developed for the workplace, but I love using it to track chores and other processes in my house. At its simplest, Kanban lets you track "To Do" and "Done" tasks. You can also make a custom board for a specific process! The Kanban Kit walks you through exactly how to set up something like this for your family. I have used this with kids as young as 3 and it works perfectly. You can grab it for $12 and download instantly.
| Buy the Kanban Kit |
The second is the Master List system. This is a tool to help you figure out what, exactly, needs to be done around your house. The list and system can be really helpful if you are trying to divide chores more equitably across family members or figure out what new chores your older kids can take on. It also ensures that you won't forget those infrequent tasks like paying your property taxes or changing the oil! You can get the step by step process AND a starter master list of chores right now for $12.
| Buy the Master List Bundle |
I hope you are having a great week! Talk to you soon.
Beth @ PL
Unsubscribe | 113 Cherry St #92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2205
No comments:
Post a Comment