Teaching kids housework

[DaddyPete]

I'm a dad and work nights, I have my 2 girls through the day and their mother works during the day. I'm constantly clearing and tidying behind and around the kids as well as playing with them. Without being too strict, I think the girls should be involved fairly early in certain chores. tidying toys away and they currently help load laundry onto the basket etc. My dad was lazy and had everything done for him. My girls are 2 and 4 and I want to be a positive influence. Is there a certain approach to this. Please help

In addition to helping with tidying toys and laundry, how about taking their dishes etc to the sink after meals? Helping to lay the table and helping to dry up and put things away? They might also be able to help to put their clothes away after the laundry is done, but they are quite young so may not be able to achieve all of those yet. Perhaps teach them one task at a time, in the spirit of them helping you?

When they are a bit older, they could learn how to wash dishes (obviously not knives and the like) and learn to peel veggies etc . . .

Hope this helps a bit, but as long as you can involve them with whatever needs doing, they are unlikely to become lazy.

You could try making it a competition "who can put the most toys in the box?" or bribery - "you can't watch TV/ have a biscuit/ have a story etc etc till I can see all the floor". The competitive thing depends on your children.
My DCs are 4 and 2 and sometimes it is easier to do it myself as I feel like I'm always nagging them, but I also know that if I start now, it will become normal and much easier to enforce later. I also praise very loudly the one who is helping really well, so the other then tries to join in to get noticed too.
I have also threatened to throw toys away/ give them away if they don't tidy up (I am a mean mummy!)
It's also easier to give them things to do that they will find easy eg I ask mine to carry their plates to the dishwasher, but I put them in cos they find that difficult.
hth

The competitive thing works with my two (6 and 4) quite well too. Also you can do things that make it easier for them at first. I get mine to take their plate, scrape it into the bin and put it in the dishwasher, but I prop open the bin lid first (pedal bin) and make sure the DW is open. For things like dusting, just give them their own cloth and their own spray bottle of water and they will probably love it.

I sometimes just explain what will happen as a result of their actions, and find they simply hadn't realised. Eg, one day I was in the bathroom when DS was having a wee and saw him spray the wall with it, and said, "DS when your wee does not go in the toilet someone needs to clean it up, who do you think normally does it and is that fair?" he looked quite shocked, grabbed some toilet roll and started wiping the wall. He is much better now about a) aiming it and b) cleaning up any spills after him. Hopefully you don't have this problem with girls!

Mine also love putting clothes in the washing machine, putting the soap in and setting the buttons, they also like pegging it up (we have some of those round things with lots of pegs on for smalls, which I hang low down for them to do).

Clearing up after themselves is a good start imo. Mine are 6 and 2 and they put their clothes in the laundry basket, carry plates to the kitchen etc. Tidy their toys obv.

I think the message someone else mentioned "someone has to clean it up - who do you think normally does it?" is a good one.

6yo has started washing breakfast dishes at weekends. They like helping with food prep but this one drives me and DH nuts because it takes so long

Oh and my 2yo loves helping me sort laundry into lights and darks - although it often ends up in him chucking underwear about excitedly and I have to pick it up...

Thanks everyone. Appreciate it