Chores

[infinite monkey]

I didn't have a set chore schedule. If my parents asked me to do something, I did it. If I wanted to go to the movies, they'd gauge if I'd earned it and fund it. That was based on my job as a student, too. Grades important.

Of course, when I was going into HS my dad said I could get a part-time summer job, or keep doing "chores" for him.

I didn't want to paint that damn fence one more time! And...paycheck! Dad's smart.

[DucksNuts]

Ha, I jokingly told the boys if they got good grades for the whole of 2012, I'd buy them a Ps3....they keep bringing it up.

Tyler got mostly "Sounds" and a few of "Highs" (Sound is working to expected level), Addison got mostly "Developing" and a few "Sounds". Tyler has advanced and Addi has slipped.

Addison is a very smart little boy, who uses his brains for evil, not good. Tyler is the slow and steady learner, but he is dedicated and wants to do well. Addi wants to be popular and is the class clown.

I have very high expectations being the straight A student (including Auto Prac, sheetmetal, and woodwork) and found that I have to tell myself to go easy at Homework time.

[Aliantha]

Sounds like you're on the right track Ducks. My only bit of advice to add would be that you as the parent need to be flexible about the chore thing, as in, what motivates them today might not be as effective in 6 months or a year.

Oh, one other thing. If they want to help with cooking I think you should let them. It's a wonderful skill for kids to learn when they're young, and getting in the habit of helping out with meals is only going to be a benefit to you in the end. Even Max helps out in the kitchen. He has a special knife that he uses to cut up things like mushrooms or bananas or eggs. Sometimes he can do a bit of stirring or he might pour stuff into the bowl. Just little stuff, but he feels good about helping, and in the end, it does help, because now he knows how to do those certain little things. Give it a go. Don't be scared.

[Stormieweather]

I have a 6 and 16yr old living at home. Other than helping clean the kitchen after dinner, they don't have daily chores. There is just not enough time after sports, homework, bath, etc.

Every Saturday, we do the real chores. We have 3 3x5 cards with the regular chores divided onto them, as evenly as I can.

The 6yr old has her own card, which contains empty small trash cans (office, bathroom, bedrooms), clean fish tank cube, sweep under bookshelves, and straighten her room.

The other three cards are rotated among me, my partner and the 16yr old. There is no TV, no company, no going out, no playing at all until these chores are done each Saturday. When my son lived at home, his job was the yard - mowing, edging, raking, trimming, etc. as needed. He grew up and moved into his own house though...where ALL the chores are his (lol). So partner now does the yard and I do the laundry/pay bills.

No one gets paid to do normal chores. If they want to earn money, I always have extras they can do, such as wash the car, bathe the dog, scrub the floorboards, or clean ceiling fans.

[classicman]

Dunno, this seems as good a place as any to put this.
Seems fitting.

[BigV]

DucksNuts--

Lots of good advice here. I thought I'd talked about this recently; I had. Not my words, though. Here's a link to the good advice I'd read.

an excerpt:

The solution may be to take time and find "work"' for 2-4 years olds, recognizing that their "help" actually means more work for the parent. In a study done some years ago, the investigators found that children as young as 18 months "spontaneously and promptly assisted the adults in a majority of the tasks they performed. Furthermore, the children accompanied their assistance by relevant verbalizations and by evidence that they knew the goals of the tasks, even adding appropriate behaviors not modeled by the adults." (16)

[Lamplighter]

Classic, that sounds more like Ben Stein than Bill Gates.

Those "rules" are so defeatist and disheartening, and run so counter to my own outlook,
but it wouldn't surprise me that Gates may well believe and live by them.
If so, Melissa needs to take Bill off to a mountain top and give him to a mind-changing experience.

My wife and I certainly did not raise our kids to fit into such a moldy mold.
.

[classicman]

meh - Different strokes for different folks.
not my words, I just thought it was germane to the subject.

[ZenGum]

I think you should make your kids memorise the Four Yorkshiremen skit from Monty Python.

[DucksNuts]

They cant remember to flush the toilet after they shit Zen, I think that will be a stretch!!

[ZenGum]

Flushing toilets? Luxury!

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by DucksNuts

...they dont need for anything, but they always want.

And if they're like most kids, they have trouble telling the difference.

[Sundae]

Updated version.
Harry Enfield, Alan Rickman, Eddie Izzard, Vic Reeves
(all very well known here, Enfield and Reeves might not be known abroad)


If you're going to get them to memorise anything, I suggest this though.

Sorry about the split screen effect. The BBC versions are copyrighted and won't show overseas.
I don't feel guilty about sharing this as I paid to see it live AND bought the DVD.