Just wondered how much everyone's Dc's do for themselves and to help in the home. Chatting to another mum, she asked how I 'manage' with 4. I said that the older 2 (10 and 7) both make beds, tidy own rooms, get themselves dressed. They shower themselves, make breakfast and snacks and are pretty much independent. They take rubbish out, wash up every week night(for pocket money) and sometimes hang washing out. They pack their own lunchboxes, (I check them)walk to school(5 minute walk, one road with lollipop lady) and do their homework without close supervision. The 3yr old makes a good attempt at making her bed, she takes her dinner plate out, dresses herself etc. Even the youngest (15 months) puts his toys away (with help) fetches nappies and other simple things! She looked horrified and said "well what exactly do you do then?" She has twin 7 yr old girls and said she brushes their teeth, gets them dressed every morning, washes their hands and faces after eating, baths them, puts them into pj's, tidy's rooms etc. I do this with the babies of course. I said she was making work for herself and maybe she should encourage them to do more for themselves (She did ask how I managed after all!) She said that I was unreasonable expecting so much from 'little ones' and they must feel very uncared for! I wasn't brave enough after that to tell her that every Saturday morning is 'big clean', where all of us blitz the place for 1 hr before enjoying our weekend! The only jobs I don't think are fair to expect them to do is cleaning out the pets, cleaning the oven/fridge or cleaning the toilet. What does everyone think? I think I'm making them responsible and considerate people. Do you really think they don't feel 'looked after'? BTW, We have plenty of fun together and they know that their efforts are appreciated.