To think children need to do more housework

My DC don't need to do more housework they already do plenty. Much more than I ever did as a DC.

I encourage my 3 year old to tidy up and he can use the pan and brush to sweep the floor, and sometimes the hoover when supervised. I want him (and his younger brother) to grow up with the ethos that as a family we are a team and all help each other.
Dp has come a million miles re housework so is setting a good example.
As my children grow i want to encourage them to learn what they can to help in the home but for it to be natural and enjoyable and not a chore or punishment.

My DC help out a lot around the house with little chores.

DH and I also teach them bigger jobs around the house, maintaining your home is an important life skill because it’s expensive and knowing how to take care of your things so that they last is important. Same with cooking, it’s good to know how to make meals from basic ingredients. You can learn to follow recipes when you’re older but cooking intuitively, understanding flavours, Ingredients and cooking processes is a whole other ball game.

Yanbu.

My 12 year old vacuums the house each weekend during term time and twice a week in holidays. Also irons own clothes.

My 9 year old dusts the house and empties little bins.

Both empty the dishwasher everytime it runs. Both pack away the weekly Tesco delivery.

Of course they clean and tidy own rooms and remove sheets from beds once per week.

They are very helpful.

I work full time, have a teen and a toddler and a cleaner for 2h per fortnight- wish I could afford it weekly! Eldest is expected to keep her room presentable and walk the dog once a day. Toddler automatically tidied up after herself (thanks nursery) sets the table and makes her bed. I think some chores is really good for them no matter what their ages

Chores are so important for dc. It's not just the load they're lightening or skills they're learning, it's also good for their self esteem and help to develop an attitude where they can muck in and help get things done.

My kids have too long days at school and with masses of homework during the week, and busy at weekends. But during the holidays they do the laundry and cook a meal each. They do help unload / load the dishwasher normally. But I definitely do the lion’s share of domestic jobs.

I think that it's great for children to get the habit of doing chores. Good training for being adults, and there's a potential for enjoying the task itself and the fact of joining in. Not so easy though if they really don't want to do it. I remember hating being asked to help wash up, I honestly believed it was my mother's job, which is a dreadful attitude to have picked up, and not one that she appreciated much either.

I despised being seen as 'workforce' as a child, especially as the only girl.

Get up 5.30 am, do a paper round, do housework, walk 3 miles to school, work all day at school, walk home, more bloody housework, homework, go to bed, rinse and repeat.

Any holidays projects would be found for which it was expected we would be the free workers, managed by my father who only saw himself as supervisory.

I resented it hugely and left home as soon as possible.

Mine are 11 and 9. Both can cook an omlette or scrambled eggs. The older can do a cake from scratch and follow basic CBBC kids recipes. Both learn to manage their money weekly with pocket money. Both regularly unload the dishwasher, Hoover or help with bigger tasks like cutting the grass (11yo) or collecting hedge cuttings (9yo)

we are lucky enough to have a family business that they can work alongside us. I see too many youngsters with no work ethic. Both understand that chores have to be done, animals fed and everything looked after before you get on to the fun part of a day.

DD (now 13) has always had "chores" that grew with her.

It's a small list as we have a pretty easy life style and I am around quite a bit.

She's responsible for her crap and keeping it tidy/sorted. Does dishes 5 nights a week.Empties all the little bins in the house. Sorts out the bedroom one a week (properly). Does the bathroom sink . Puts her white shirts to soak on a Friday. These are non negotiables. Every now and then she'll do other random jobs either voluntarily or because I asked her to.

I have this wonderful video of my kids aged 2 and 5 hoovering, one with our actual hoover and the other with toy hoover. They were so helpful and lovely and I felt sure they would grow up to be so considerate and willing to do chores. Fast forward to the teen years and they are far less keen. They do help but as someone upthread mentioned, we are time poor. On school nights they do the dishwasher but then we are all dashing off to clubs. On weekends they do their bedsheets and hoover but again life is so busy. You have to find a balance.

Many of my peers had to do chores

Girls AND boys?

but concede they may not able to contribute to child and home care due to their own work commitments.

Didn't read further than this. Total bollocks. If the lived alone, who would do their home care? If their wife died, who would do the childcare.

Excusing men like that is, frankly, inexcusable. Women don't use their vaginas to clean and rear children so why does having a penis make any difference?

I can’t quite tell OP whether you’re suggesting that children should do household tasks to make up for their fathers being useless, or whether you’re suggesting men are useless because they didn’t have chores as kids?

Anyway, yes, mine are being taught to “keep house”. It’s part of being a responsible human. They don’t have chores (they’re 4 and 7), at the moment it’s more that everyone pitches in together - if I’m sweeping one of them does the dustpan etc. I do have to remind DH that it’s ok that it takes them 10 mins to do a bad job when it takes us 2 mins to do a good one!

Im tempted to hand over laundry to the 7 year old though, he loves it, will sort colours, check the labels to separate delicates and figure out what can go in the tumble dryer!

I say it’s none of your business. You do you. If you want any kids you have to do housework then fine. If another family chooses not to. That’s ok too, because guess what. It’s not the only way to teach a child. I never did chores as a child because my mum said she wanted us to all enjoy being a child. It was only once and life is precious. I’m a great homeowner and have been since 21.

My daughter has to tidy up her room, make her bed and feed the dog every day.

I never made mine do anything. He spontaneously started doing his own laundry when he was about 15 and his own cooking a couple of years later when he became vegan. No housework because I had a cleaner and I didn’t do any either!

Mine don't do loads (we have a cleaner so we really just have day to day stuff to do ourselves).
But both of them - age 3 and 6 make the bed, keep bedrooms tidy, always tidy up their toys, hang coats up/put shoes away, dishes in sink, clothes in washing basket and little tasks like that...they actually argue over who gets to do a job if I need something 🤣🤣 (just like who would like to go upstairs and get....)

It was in brownies that I learned how to clean. I doubt they still teach that!

I think it's important as a minimum that children clear up after themselves and respect their environment and the people who keep it nice for them. So put dirty clothes in the wash, rubbish in the bin, pick up things they drop, help to tidy their own toys after use, clear plates after dinner, flush the toilet and leave it clean. They should see themselves as team members not as being above household tasks. Beyond that, the amount of actual chores they do perhaps isn't so important, but it's more about the attitude and understanding that someone is doing these tasks if they don't. I also encourage my children to think about who cleans their school and be grateful for them.

I have just split up with someone who literally expected me to skivvy after him. Every time he gives a child a bath he thinks he's being a great dad but there will be a wet towel on the floor, dirty clothes on the floor, water and toys left in the bath. He cooks but then leaves the kitchen in a complete state with fish wrappers dumped in the sink etc. He obviously has never been taught to be respectful in a shared space.

Now I'm a single parent it's more important that children help although they're only young but I do expect them to help with clearing and laying the table and tidying up as team members, I tell them that if they help it will be done quicker and we can do something fun. I also tell them I need their help and value it. My 5 year old is actually quite good at helping now - it is genuinely a help (when she's in the right mood which isn't always!)

Should children do housework - yes

However, I was quite a lazy teenager, I didn't have any chores and we lived in a pigsty. I've still grown up perfectly capable of keeping my house clean and tidy. I'm often complimented on how lovely and well kept my house is.

I have always taught/made my children to help round the house. So for example my teenager has to take bins out, empty the dishwasher, put a load of laundry on, put his own washing away, change his bedding and clean his room, clear up the kitchen, cut the grass. Not all at once, but he does get asked to do at least one of these things. I've been making him do chores since he was tiny.

It hasn't stoped him being a lazy so and so. He still moans and complains and tries to get away with doing a half job.

I teach my son to tidy up after himself, shoes on shoe rack, coat hung up, wet towels hung up and not left on floor, dirty clothes in hamper, rubbish in bin etc...

I don't make him do any housework, just trying to teach him good habits. He's 8

That's why you need to persevere and not fall into that trap. I don't care how long it takes, I refuse to follow the mindset of "I'll just do it because it's quicker" it doesn't do anyone any favours in the long run. Just creates lazy men!

I've brought DS up alone and taught him how to do stuff, if he did a half arsed job I'd make him do it again, if it took longer so be it. And he actually learned that way that if he did a proper job the first time around it would be over with much quicker!

The issue with that is, not all households have adult men in them.

I'm a lone parent and I make DS do stuff around the house. I'm not a skivvy.