Responsibility for children?

[iliketosleep]

What age do you start giving you children Responsibility? DC are 10,9,7 & 2 I would like to get the older 3 to become more responsible.

All they do at the moment is get dressed, wash face and brush teeth (after I have told them) and tidt their rooms although not very often.

I fear know I am mothering them too much and it's time they started standing up on their own two feet!!

TIA :)

Oh dear...many many typos!

your children

Tidy their rooms

yes you could start a chore chart for a reward? These chores could be picked at random from a pot and the older 1 would have mpre than the younger 1?

What sort of things would I be able to give them to do?

Also would it be ok to let my 10 year old DD bathe herself? I know I probably sound ridiculous but I still worry that she could drown even though she can swim and isn't a baby anymore.

Gosh I really do sound pathetic don't I :(

Absolutely let your 10yo bathe herself. She'll be fine and you could leave the door open if you are really worried.

Things my Mum gave us to do at around this age:

laying the table
washing up/tidying up after dinner
hoovering
dusting
sweeping/mopping the kitchen floor
feeding the cat
stripping the beds
cleaning the bathroom (extra pocket money for this!)
washing the cars (extra pocket money!)
mowing the lawn (a bit older than your DCs)

Sounds like a lot for us to do but there were 5 of us children (and she worked full-time, amazing woman).

Hi. My DS is 6, and he makes his bed, puts his dirty clothes in the laundry basket, puts clean laundry away (the bits he can reach), tidies his stuff away every evening, lays the table for dinner. I also leave him to wash himself, (although I do tend to check!). He does these things as a matter of course. He sometimes does extra stuff to earn a bit of pocket money, e.g. empties the dishwasher for 20p, helps me pick fruit etc. He also helps a lot with cooking as he's really into it. Blimey, I sound like a slave-driver! But he seems to quite like it... most of the time!

You need to get them older kids doing more...

even my 4 yr old has "jobs" he lays the cutlery for tea and gets cereal and spoons out for breakfast. I'm moving him towards being able to put away his own clean clothes, make own bed and wipe up.

When we have nieces and nephews ( age 4-11) staying they are expected to take turns clearing table, wiping up, putting away and sweeping floor. Older ones do wiping and sweeping as younger ones are more of a hindrance than a help at those 2 jobs. all the N&Ns make own bed and at home home one of them is regular breadmaker.

Sorry for not replying thread dropped right down the list!

I think starting from tomorrow I will be giving them chores, spent most of the week 'autumn cleaning' so i'm not throwing them in at the deep end :)

I thought at first that some of you were being a bit hard. Then I remembered that when I was in hospital having DS, DD(10) ran my house for the best part of a week!

I came home to find she'd done all the laundry and ironing, the house was spotless and she'd done most of the cooking including that evening's dinner.

We have a rota now to save arguments. It includes emptying bins/re-cycling, setting table, washing dishes, hanging/putting away laundry and cleaning the bathroom. DD still has a few chores (23) but when the younger ones questioned why she had less, she simply pointed out 'I've done my time'.

I realise that I was harder with her than I have been with the boys. I stopped doing her ironing at 12 and her laundry at 14- she created more than everyone else put together
However, I do believe it is good for them to start young, and teaches them that M is for mum, not mug.

When exp moved in, he didn't have a clue because his mum did everything for him. Have trained him well for his wife

Oh god reading all of your replies I feel like some sort of over-protective freak

I know I did all the things mentioned when I was that young but the thougt of my lot doing it seems wrong, they are babies! except they aren't :(

DD1 starts high school next September and will have to take a bus to get there, the thought petrifies me!!