I firmly believe that chores are something that every member of the family should do and should not be paid for them. Everyone is part of the family and we all have family responsibilities.
I believe an allowance is strictly that, an ALLOWANCE of a certain amount of money that (after tithing of course) can be used however the child sees fit to spend it. I am undetermined yet as to how much she should get (though I am leaning towards 2 dollars a week), but I also think that depends on the age.
So right now, Peyton has 2 chores that she does everyday. I figure once she gets the hang of those, we can add more if I feel it's right. Her first chore is cleaning up the toys. Before naptime and before bedtime, all the toys must be put away. Her second chore is unloading the clean silverware from the dishwasher into the utensils drawer. She grabs her little stool, pulls out the silverware basket (which I take out all sharp knives beforehand, they go in another place anyways) and sorts the silverware into the right spots. Simple, yet age appropriate.
Baby D is still a bit too young for chores, but he'll get there someday.
At what age do your children start to do chores? What types of chores do they do?
4 comments:
My son has done "chores" for as long as I can remember, probably around age 4. He has always helped out around the house. I think the way you are doing it is perfect. Everyone does chores because that is how a household functions. An allowance is sharing of the family finances, not reward for doing what you should be doing anyway :D
We have our kids put the silverware away too. It's a perfect kid friendly task. Although, Mylie still can't figure out that things aren't supposed to just be dumped in the drawer but it's not too difficult. We also have them set the table. Every day a different child is in charge of something different. 1 puts the plates and cups on the table...another puts forks and napkins...and another a placemat. Then it is their job to put their dishes in the sink and get a wet sponge and wipe down their part of the table and chairs (this is a new task since we just got a new dining table and chairs). Hunter is also in charge of taking his bathroom trash out. Toys get picked up at night by everyone and on occasion I will let them help me dust or mop...but only because they beg and plead to help. I don't like them using the chemicals so I like to monitor them when it's being done. It's great practice. Yeah, I'm a slave driver...yet my house still looks like a mess. Go figure :)
I'm very into chores. Teaching my kids how to work is very high on my priority list. Both of my big kids have personal chores, and we also have Cleaning Team when we all work together.
i think your parenting take on this is awesome!
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