Please help me with household chores for a nine year old and a five year old

[TheCappster]

We're starting from scratch here, because dd1 is disabled so a lot of things have been 'let go' and dh and I end up doing everything

I wondered if you could let me know what your children are responsible for - including around mealtimes etc and around the house - so we can adapt it

thanks v v v much

My 9 year old, 6 yearold
set the table
load dishwasher
unload dishwasher (except cups & glasses they can't reach the cupboard)
put away their laundry

3 yearold gives a good atempt at these too

Great, any more? Dishwasher a bit of an impossibility to be honest.

DS1 is 6 - he "makes" his bed, put PJ's under pillow and keeps his room tidy (lots of nagging needed though). Has just learnt to set the table and is more than capable of carrying his dirty dinner plate through to the kitchen. Get him to leave it on the worktop as not confident enough to let him try and load the D/W!

DS2 is 3 - puts his dirty clothes in the basket and tidies up the bath toys!

DD1 is 16m and is loves pushing her toy hoover around when I am hoovering!

hiya capp-long time no see but them i'm not often around either.....
hope your dd's are both well

I ask mine to set the table for tea ie all cutlery placed correctly.

dirty clothes must be put in the wash basket not on the bedroom floor(dd is a nightmare at just dropping things where they come off)

small clean clothes that are left on the bed by me must be put away in drawers(knickers/socks/vests/tshirts)

shoes are put away when they come in(ds nightmare)

packed lunch bags put in the kitchen not left by the front door as they come home from school(and lately remove any offending items out of the bag-if they can't be bothered to pack it away properly i will not do it for them 4 hours later when it has turned to mush)

and just generally to tidy up their toys as we don't live in a big place and certainly can't afford for dd to accidently trip on toys and hurt herself or damage her brothers 'treasured possesions'

oh and my two fight over hoovering the lounge

Hi Chatee! I haven't been around for ages, over a year, just came back to ask this really. Hope your dc are fine.

With dd1 it's hard because she can't carry anything because she needs her hands for her crutches; she can't bring her stuff in from the car, so I end up like some kind of packhorse. Sadly a lot of chores involve carrying

also she's a slattern and a space cadet

9yo: scrub toilets, chop vegetables, peel spuds, hang out or collect in laundry, cook something simple for siblings.

5yo: empty dishwasher (but not glass items), help me hang clothes out or collect them in, empty drying rack (stuff that can't go in dishwasher), clear dining room table of other gumph. Help mix up pastry.

Lots of garden jobs for each, too, like moving firewood, picking up grass after mowing.

Keeping a younger child occupied or reading to a younger child sometimes count (or listening to younger child read, if they have the mindset to help correct rather than just read for them!)

Thinking back to a friend at University who needed both hands for crutches, she organised all her chores so that someone could do the carrying bit if necessary, and then she could sit down, do the chore, and then someone else would finish the carrying bit. She did that for making a round of tea for the office, for example - she'd do all the tea making, and then IIRC, she'd call and a friend would take a tray full of mugs into the room.

At some point, presumably, your DD will be living on her own and needing to work out how to do all these things, so it might not be a disaster even if it's difficult for her to do at first? Could you ask on a disability forum how adults do their laundry, unload dishwasher, etc, and use their tips?

I would start with making sure they are responsible for tidying up after themselves, if they are not already.

my DD (2.11) has to tidy toys, put clothes in the laundry baskets, take her plates and cups to the kitchen. she also sets the table.

DS - 4yr old -
Tidies his toys away at night
Tidies his room (puts books & cars away)
'Makes' his bed
Put dirty clothes in the basket
'Helps' DH to hoover (switches it on and off. Usually several times per session )

All 4 DC (9, 7, 5 and 2) lay the table for lunch. 9yo and 7 yo takes turns to clear it afterwards.

All put dirty clothes in wash and put away their clean folded clothes (though I have to re-do 2yo's when she's not watching).

9yo makes Saturday lunch. 7yo makes muffins for breakfast on Sat or Sun. 9yo makes snacks for school (gingerbread men / fairy cakes / muffins).

9yo pops to supermarket (less than 5 mins walk from house) to pick up the odd thing I need.

All DC tidy up the sitting room (of their things) and their bedrooms before going to bed (5 and 2 yo with much chivvying from me).

9yo and 7yo occasionally clean (hoover, dust, wash windows) their room, though this is usually when the fancy takes them.

My 4 (almost 5) year old sorted the socks into pairs yesterday - it was very sweet. He was after pocket money as saving for a new DS game.

My ds - aged 11 - makes his bed, tidies his stuff away, dirty clothes in laundry bin and clears table after meals.

Have recently introduced sorting the recycling into bins. Also quite a bit of garden carrying in the summer and can usually be persuaded to hoover as well. Can also light the fire in our woodburner, and cooks bacon and eggs in most forms.

Very interesting to see what other dc's do.

My dd 6,

Keeps her room tidy - mainly involves keeping the floor clear really.

Puts away any toys in the lounge at bedtime.

Puts her washing in her wash basket.

Sometimes sets the table.

Feeds her fish when prompted.