What household tasks do your children do?

[tortoiseonthehalfshell]

i was just blathering on in another thread and got curious.

At eighteen months, my daughter:

Helps fetch in firewood from the carport and puts it by the combustion heater
Helps unload the dishwasher, under strict supervision and I remove sharp knives first
Feeds the fish (and would happily do so 186,386,594 times a day if I let her)
Helps tidy away toys
Hands me pegs when I'm hanging out washing

The only one of these that is more helpful than doing it myself is the firewood, since she'll carry a log while I'm carrying some and it gets done marginally faster. But it's a start.

I suspect by the time she's competent at housework she won't want to do it anymore, but what do your children do around the house as standard?

My DS is 22 months and will:

feed the chickens
put rubbish in the bin/clothes in the laundry if instructed/asked
Put cat food bowls on the floor once I've measured out the food
Carry his plate to the table
Sometimes hands me pegs, other times tries to feed them to the chickens!

Not much

Dd is 4 and ds 2 now, they both love to 'sweep' the floor with small brooms but i try to let them do it after i have as the seem to spread any mess out

They both pass me pegs for washing line

They carry own plates to/from table to dinner table

I think thats it

Yes I didn't list things like 'sweeping the floor' because it makes it worse not better. I wonder how old they have to be to get the hang of that one properly.

DD is 4:

-Lays table (in an odd fashion but at least it gets the cutlery out there)

• Takes plates/ cups etc to sink and puts her rubbish in the bin (loves to put stuff in recycling)
• brings her washing downstairs and puts in machine (unsupervised but waits for me to help her turn it on so she uses the right program.
• sweeps the kitchen floor.
• Makes her own bed and tidies own room.

She has to be asked to do all of this though.

DSD is 11:

Bugger all. Unless theres the promise of money and then she might help me wash up.

Making the most of a willing 4 year old for as long as it lasts!

Dc's are 9 and 5.

they tidy up their own toys/clothes from the living areas.

Clean their rooms.

Put their laundry away.

Bring dirty laundry down to be washed.

DS has just hoovered the landing and hall.

ds is 3 and helps me set the table and brings the dishes into the kitchen after finishing eating, cleans up his own mess (crumps, tipped over drink), puts rubbish in the bin, shredds paper, tidy up in the evenings, helps fill the washing mashine/hanging up the washing, hoovers (he can get really far under the sofa)
apart from the tidying we don*t have too much of a routine yet...

I am particularly interested to know the average expectation of an 11 year old please if anyone has one or has had one...?

When he was little DS used to lvoe doing anything around the house, now he is 7 he is a little more suspicious of housework but his duties are very clear-cut, he has to:

tidy his own room and toys

put dirty clothes in wshing

put a dark wash on on tuesday evening and saturday morning

fold and put away all his dry underwear and socks form the clothes horse

dust all the skirting boards and surfaces once a week

Clean his bike once a month

Apart form those, general helping out when I ask him.

Great, I'm really interested in the older children and what they do. I know it'll be harder to persuade mine to help by then, though - right now anything that wins my attention and approval is Super Fun Playtime.

Overmy, I don't think our skirting boards ever get dusted, can you send your son over?

mine can pretty much run the whole household between them...ages 16 to 2,five of them!

I dont think mine even know we HAVE skirting boards...

Mine are 7 and 11
both clear dishes,
put washing in hampers,
put clothes away in their drawers
tidy own rooms
DS (11) unloads the dishwasher
DD (7) feeds the cat

I remember when they wanted to help bless em.

WOW ruby, Problem is I only inherited her 2 years ago and her mother has always picked up after her so its a case of trying to teach an old dog new tricks..
Noted though, I shall be raising expectations!

we dont take out wheelie bins so its ok!

Love the 15 minutes thing though

Ah tortoise, I saw you on the other thread and was glad I'm not the only one who puts my toddler to work!

My 2.2 DS does:

• Washing up of non-breakables that don't generally go in dishwasher like pans or plastic things (he loves water play and does a surprisingly good job!)
• Picking up any food he drops/throws on the floor and putting in the bin
• Helps load washing machine
• Hands pegs when I'm hanging out washing
• Helps tidy away his toys
• Puts his cups and bowls away in his drawer
• Puts his clothes away in his drawers
• Loads and unloads dishwasher once I've removed anything breakable/sharp
• Helps with cooking, e.g. getting vegetables from fridge or putting them in a pan, stirs things
• Lays the table apart from knives and glasses

All of this is with more or less input from me, and constant supervision in case of dishwasher and cooking. And doesn't do all of this every day (I'm not that much of a slave driver!) but does all of them reasonably regularly and at least 1 or 2 per day. TBH started by complete chance - I was bored of trying to find new activities for him one day and asked him to help load washing machine and he loved it so tried more things.

Am absolutely certain his enthusiasm will wane soon enough, so enjoying the help while I have it!

foureleven I tihnk, with any age child, they will fulfill the expectations placed on them, provided they are properly trained and reminded and helped to do so.

No child will just know, automatically, what to do or how to do it, but if they are shown, and treated with respect (i.e. you show them that you think they are capable of handing the responsibility) they can usually then be responsible for a few key tasks around the house.

But they need to be told and shown how to do it, so it requires a certain amount of investment in time to train them, but well worth it in the end I think!

I think, with an eleven year old, you could probably sit down with her, go through a list of various possible things she could be responsible for, let her pick three of four, and then allocate a certain time and day etc to actually do it, then show her how to do it (like training a new staff member).

That';s what I do with DS. About once a year we go through what needas doing and he chooses three or four of the household tasks to take responsibility forr.

I hope that helps.

It does indeed, thanks.

I dont want to come across as hitler but I want her to feel proud of herself and also feel a part of making the home IYKWIM.. and saving me some time of chores wouldnt hurt heehee.

although we do have a cleaner so there arent masses. Its more the clearing up and tidying,

My three 7,8,11 all;

lay the table between them for supper and each one clears at night (on a rota).

Tidy their bedrooms my 11yr old also cleans and hoovers hers.

Put dirty washing in basket and put away clean clothes.

Make beds - 11 changes her covers, but younger two need some help.

Generally keep their stuff tidy

Put shoes and coats away and are responsible for the hallway not getting too unmanageable with school bags, pe stuff etc

11yr old is supposed to take the recycling out, but needs regular nagging.

They will all hoover for cash or as a punishment .

Some of this needs serious nagging reminding.