what do you expect your children to do around the house, and what age are they?

[Kveta]

DS is 3.8, and I have started encouraging him to put his dirty clothes in the laundry basket, clear his plate off the table, and help put his clean clothes away after I've washed them.

DH thinks this is quite a lot for a 3 year old to be doing, I wonder if he should be helping more, given that he starts nursery school this September!

DS is not impressed with having to do, well, anything, but I don't want him to grow up unable to look after himself, and dread the teenage years enough already, without arguments about chores.

So what do your kids do, and how old are they, and do you think it's enough?

Thanks :)

DD is 3.6 so pretty much the same I expect her to put her toys away with a bit of help/ encouragement, bring dirty plates etc to sink, put something in bin if I ask her, lay table occassionally not every night, she "helps" with washing up plays with water , helps put shopping away, helps by putting veg/pasta in saucepan before we cook, grates cheese etc

she likes to brush and wash kitchen floor but of coure it needs doing again after but I do not stop her, she likes to help wash the car and weed garden but none of that is compulsory she thinks it is just fun

I have a 5, 4 and 2 yr old and a new baby.
All the older ones can put their dirty dishes in the sink. The two eldest help set the table. They all love getting the DustBuster and hoovering up kitchen mess.
They all help out clothes away though the 2 yr old tends to get everything out of drawers and throw them around so I try to avoid him helping with this.
They all like to help putting their dishes away from the dishwasher.
Eldest two like to do washing up but I usually have to redo it, but I like to encourage them.
They all put their clothes in the dirty laundry basket - think of it as target practice.
Ds1 loves putting washing in the machine/dryer and under supervision setting it.

On the other hand they all hate tidying up!

thanks for the replies. I think we are possibly pitching it a bit below his actual abilities then, but will probably stick with it for now. He is expected to help tidy his toys up, and help put the washing on/empty the washing machine, but it really depends on how much of a hurry I'm in/how much of a mood he's in! He wants to help with washing up too, so I should probably encourage that more and more, maybe it could be his job to wash up after breakfast on a weekend (with supervision, of course!).

I really wish he had come with a manual though...