What chores do your kids have?

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What chores do your kids have?

Putting the cutlery away.
Keeping her horse gear clean and tidy.
Keeping her room reasonably tidy.

Not even sure if the last two really count as chores...

Here's my system for chores for DS9 and twins DD5 and DD5.

I have a paper on the fridge with each child's name and 5 lines underneath. Each time they do a chore, I write it on the list. When they complete 5, they get a $5 allowance. Each child has a wallet to keep their money in. One child consistently out-earns the other two, but she's naturally a neat-freak who actually asks if we can clean her room.

My goal is to prompt them to do one chore each day, but I have to admit I'm not very consistent about it. It works best when they're asking for money to buy something (ice cream truck, small toys < $25, a month of Club Penguin) and the wallet is empty.

Whenever I introduce a new chore, I explictly teach it every time until they seem to get the hang of it. Then I back off to supervising with verbal prompts.

So far, they can empty the dishwasher competely independently. (The little ones just stack items on the counter, my son puts them in the cabinet.) My son can take the kitchen recycling and kitchen trash to the big bins outside. They can all vacuum and use a steam mop independently. (I did end up buying a Roomba to do the vacuuming, though.) They can all clean sinks, toilets, bathtubs, and mirrors if I stand there and give verbal prompts. We have "folding parties" to get though the laundry -- shirts go on hangers. I usually have to assign just half a basket or they run out of steam. They can run the washer and dryer with verbal prompting (I pour the soap.)

Taking plates to the sink after dinner is just expected and does not count toward allowance money. Ditto with picking dirty clothes off the floor and putting them in the hamper (one in each bedroom.)

I'm pretty tolerant of messy bedrooms, but occasionally (like every other month) we'll have a big cleanup where I am prompting them about what goes where. Occasionally it just gets too out of control and I just do it for them.

I need to be better about telling them to do a chore and then making them do it. Often I'm just not up for the fight. I also need to work on making them pick up after themselves in the living room. I have a tendency to just let things pile up and then do a big hour-long cleanup instead of doing a smaller job every day.

We don't have assigned chores. I just tell them to do stuff and they have to try. Right now, both of my kids need help, prompting, supervision, to do everything, but if there's ever a time when they can actually do something on their own, I'd like to give them some accountability with a chore chart or something.

My 13 year old loves "helping" and he's always with me, so he'll help with whatever I'm doing usually. Some of the things he can do: He can turn on the washing machine (and knows how to put in the soap and how to sort clothes, but needs some prompting), he can bring the dishes from the table, bring up the laundry, bring in the garbage/recycling bins, take the compost bowl to the composter, hold the dustpan when I'm sweeping, clean up a spill, feed his dog, put toys away. He also helps me cook. Usually when I wash dishes, I will fill the other sink up for him and put the dishes I wash into his sink so he can "re-wash" them and then he puts them on the rack- hopefully he's learning something that way. He likes to help me garden too- he can water the plants, help put leaves into a bag, and so on.

My 15 year old needs more prompting and it's really hassle to get him to do anything for longer than 10 seconds, so he does less. He can put away cutlery (kind of), put folded clothes into drawers, put toys away, umm...that's all I can think of. Once in a blue moon, he will WOW me with following some really complex instruction that I was absolutely not expecting him to understand (I blabber on to myself, the kids usually ignore me). So when he has those "windows of clarity" he might do something super helpful. I said "Shoot, I left the leash in the back yard" - I didn't even direct anyone to do anything, and he ran off and got it! Even so, I really need to get on this; he needs to learn these skills.

None. We've had too many issues with homework and stress to be able to pin them down to specific chores. They know they've got it super easy, and seem to appreciate it, at least.

But I do ask them to do things, when the timing seems right. They respond super well and will do anything if I catch them at the right time.

None. We've had too many issues with homework and stress to be able to pin them down to specific chores. They know they've got it super easy, and seem to appreciate it, at least.

But I do ask them to do things, when the timing seems right. They respond super well and will do anything if I catch them at the right time. They also take care of their own rooms, not because it is a listed chore but because I don't do it and they like deciding for themselves how they want things, anyway. They are also quite generous helping teachers, relatives, and the like; doing outside of the home what they don't have to do at home. People think I have them well trained - hah!

We are also very informal. Clean up your place at the table, help take out and put away food, put things away in room, and put laundry into areas by type. Also put clothing away but I fold it. They help with major chores without fuss like raking leaves, painting, weeding etc.