My children lead the life of riley! Implementing chores....

[Grapes2]

I have three beautiful children, ds1, age 7; dd2, age 3 and dd3 age 8 months. As I rushed around tonight making tea, reading to dds, laying table, clearing up, changing nappies etc, while ds1 and dd2 played and watched telly I began to think, now that I have three children, that I might need more help around the house...even if only token help. There are an obvious list of jobs, such as laying table, sweeping up, reading baby a book, tidying toys etc.

Has anyone any advice on how to go about allocating chores, getting them done, fostering independence in doing them, and making them age appropriate (7 and 3 being quite different really...)? Any advice? Or am I expecting too much/ too little...

I would ask your 7 yr old what he thinks he can help with or give him a list of chores to pick from. He's definitely not too young for chores.

Enforcing jobs for a 3 yr old sounds like hard work, but you can start teaching her how to do useful things. She may want to copy her brother anyway. And she should be participating in tidying up her own mess.

I would be wary of keeping the baby happy being on the 'chore' list. You could encourage older children to keep baby busy just by pointing out how much she loves it when they interact with her.

your 7 year old should be able to do basic things such as set the table, dusting, sweeping, clearing up of toys and sitting with LO for a few minutes when you need. i think the hardest part in getting the kids to be a part of the clean up is letting it go that it won't be done as good as yourself. your 3 year should be able to do some sweeping too and a good motivator is to buy the LO their own little sweeper and dust pan and put their name on it and maybe some decoupage to make it their own little tool. the 8 month old's chore is to bring smiles to everyone.

I steer clear of handing out chores because the very word is so very depressing. But I do ask and expect my children to help- I just say "Oi X, lay the table for us, please" or whatever it is. They don't seem spectacularly unhelpful usually (unless tidying their rooms is the said request.)

Can't help with the older one but DS who is 2.10 yrs has been laying the table for dinner the last few months. I get the cutlery out and he sets each place. He takes any condiments through and his water. I do the adult drinks. It started off just as me completely helping and taking much longer but now he is actually really helpful. And he's expected to do it most nights (unless I know we're heading in to paddy central!). Other things he is expected to do: clear his own plate to the bin and put the plate in the sink from all meals/snacks, put his dirty clothes in the washing if they've got dirty whilst downstairs, help with tidying up his toys.

Hi. I have four kids (dd 8, ds 6, dd 3.8, ds 20months). Our house is prretty much chaos, although i find it never gets too bad if the kids do even a small bit to help.
dd8years and ds6 make beds in the morning (straightening - not changing covers). Also expected to tidy away lego and other toys.
dd8 also has to sit wth the baby sometimes.
Eldest 3 all put dirty washing into the laundry bin. dd 3.8 years gets cutlery, and has to put toys in the toybox in the living room.
They all have to put rubbish in thte bin, take plates to the dishwasher and put shoes, coats in the right place (except ds 20months).
Its not a lot, but it makes a bigger difference than you think it will. If they moan about it then they lose tv programmes or pocket money or get called in from the garden early!