Children and Chores

Another guest post from our friend at...
www.ordinary-time.blogspot.com

It’s that time of year when I spend a lot of time getting things in order for the new school year.  I make schedules, I assign curriculum, I buy books and school supplies, and I reassign chores.  That last item could be the most essential key to a good school year.  Living and learning at home can be a messy business.  If I were to try to keep that chaos at bay all by myself, it would be a short-lived effort.  I just can’t do it; everyone must pitch-in.  After a year of doing the same jobs everyone is ready for a change; both because they have mastered the current tasks and because they would like to try something new.  Here are some of the things I try to keep in mind as I shuffle people and jobs into a new order:

·        Be aware of children’s time constraints.  While my older children are certainly capable of doing the most, they also have the most outside commitments.  With my daughter taking a college level class this year, I try to be aware of how much time she actually has and plan accordingly.  She won’t have many day to day chores, but will have a list of things she’s responsible for on Saturdays when she has time.

·        Even the littlest can help out.  They may not do the most thorough job, but you are investing in the future.  Some of my favorite jobs for the youngest set are sweeping with a small broom and dustpan, dusting floorboards, and keeping board books and toys in their baskets.

·        You need to teach them how to do the job.  As nice as it would be to be able to tell a child to clean the bathroom or dust the living room, unless you help them the first several times, they won’t know how to do it.  Sure you could do it faster all by yourself, but that’s not really the point.  Once again you are investing in the future, both yours when you don’t have to help anymore and theirs because they will have learned a new skill.

·        You have to check that the job is done and done correctly.  And when it isn’t done correctly, call the child back and have them do it again.  Don’t let sloppy work pass.

·        Checklists are great for visual learners.  This is sometime I need to start again, since over the past month or so I find I have been having to do a bit too much reminding.

·        Children are often capable of more than we as parents think they are.  Give them a challenge.  In order to avoid having my older children do the bulk of the work, I try to assign a chore to the youngest children possible, even if it is a bit of a stretch for them.

·        Finally, if everyone falls off the chore wagon, don’t be afraid to start all over again.  It takes practice to make chores a habit, both for the child doing them and for the parent checking them.  Just because you had a bad week (or month), doesn’t mean you can’t start again.  Apologize for letting things get out of hand and announce you’re starting from scratch.