Toddlers love to help around the
house. Older children become far less
excited about doing chores. They have busy schedules of homework,
extracurricular activities, and friends.
But chores are a good way to
give young people responsibility for a needed task, and remind them that they
are contributing members of the family.
Here are some tips for getting
your children to chip in with family chores:
First, make sure the chores are
age-appropriate. It’s not a good idea to send a young child to take the trash
outside by herself, for example. You can do it together, though, and help her
learn until she is ready to do it alone.
Also, start young. When a child
is in preschool, give him easy chores to get him in the habit of helping out.
A five-year-old can help clear
the table, or put away his clean clothes.
Make sure your children feel
they were successful in completing their chores, especially given that the goal
is to help them gain self-confidence.
Acknowledge when the chore is complete,
and be sure to thank your child for the effort expended, every time.
It also helps to make a family
chore list to remind everyone of what is expected, and to let them have the
satisfaction of checking off work that’s been done.
Mixing in a new chore can keep
things interesting, along with rotating chores for different children. Everyone
can help out and feel good about it.
