When I was a kid, I had a few “chores”. I washed the dishes, helped my mom with the laundry. I swept and mopped the kitchen. It was never linked to money, it was just what was expected of me as a part of the family. I like that notion. In today’s world I see a lot of chores being linked to money. If you don’t do your chores, you don’t get an allowance. I don’t want to do that. I have yet to give the boys an allowance though I think I’m going to start soon. But chores won’t be linked to that.
So far, they are responsible for cleaning their room. They don’t sweep, vacuum, or wash anything. They just clean up their toys and throw the blankets back on their beds. They also pick up their toys in the living room and dining room where they love to spread out their puzzles and cars. So I guess these aren’t traditionally chores but I feel it teaches them responsibility. They make a mess, they clean it up. Of course, the big messes that they make (food spilled while eating, mud that they snuck into the house in their pockets ground into their bedroom floor), all of that I clean up until they get older.
I want so much for my children. I want more than I have, more than I can dream of ever having. So while I would love to let them lay around and do nothing, I feel that I need to instill a sense of responsibility in them. I think the younger it starts, the better, as eventually it will become reflex.
On that same note, I’m going to start letting them help me with cooking. One night a week I’ll make a meal that they can help me with. I’m thinking that they can stir something (not on the stove) and add premeasured ingredients. They absolutely adore watching me cook but I frequently have to boot them out of the kitchen when they get too close to the stove. I think that math could be involved with this little responsibility lesson. And of course, tons of fun. 🙂