Children and Chores

[baileydog]

I have to agree to. We have 4- 5 years of age and under. The two oldest ones get their chores done and we have a chart system every night that we do. If they have not done something we give them a sad face and then they dont get to do something or a dont get a "treat" at the end of the week. We have been thinking though to change it to allowance, what do most parents give their children? Just courious Thanks

When I was that age I got I think a quarter. That age should not get paid for anything. You have plenty of years ahead to fork over all your money.

 

[sleuth]

So being that I'm going to be a dad soon...
what chores are appropriate for a 6 year old?

 

[baileydog]

Dishes, cleaning room, ie pick up toys , make bed, ect. feeding pets. stuff like that. I was standing on a chair at 5 yrs doing dinner dishes

 

[MysticalMom]

So being that I'm going to be a dad soon...
what chores are appropriate for a 6 year old?

I think it depends on the child. My youngest is 8 years old and in her 6th year of the terrible twos. Really. She's a handful. We use her as our runner and fill in when we're house cleaning. Gabrielle get this. Gabrielle get that. Gabrielle do this... She does dishes sometimes, but soaks herself and the floor and counter top. When my other kids were younger they could handle more.

She does dump the bathroom trash, make her own bed and kep her room clean though.

 

[Wenchy]

No allowances here. My children have a roof over their head, and good food to eat.

Daughter empties the dishwasher, dusts, vacuums, does the laundry for the entire family (when I don't get to it first) and changes the litterbox.

My son (age 9) feeds the cats, cleans his room daily (I don't put up with mess of any kind) and his BIG job is opening the blinds every morning and closing them when it gets dark.

I basically just cook, mop the floors, assist in the laundry duties, and transport them to various activities.

When my baby leaves for college in the fall, her brother will be fully trained to take on her responsibilities.

One thing she does NOT like to do is cook. I have been teaching her the basics and will occasionally put her in charge of making dinner.

I know she will not starve. She is proficient with ramen, boxed mac and cheese barf rice-a-roni and ordering pizza. (Sounds like a college student already...)

Lots of love here, and my children have everything they need.

Good job MM!

 

[Chasey_Lane]

No allowances here. My children have a roof over their head, and good food to eat.

That's what I think, too. I used to offer an allowance to my daughter, then I woke up.

Being a responsible, well-groomed adult (or child) shouldn't be rewarded. We SHOULD clean up after ourselves; we SHOULD make the bed; we SHOULD keep a clean, presentable appearance and house.

 

[vraiblonde]

Lots of love here, and my children have everything they need.

My kids have everything they need, just not everything they want. Like money to go to the movies, $80 Hollister jeans, iTunes downloads, various snack items at school, etc. For that, they must work and budget their money.

 

[Chasey_Lane]

My kids have everything they need, just not everything they want. Like money to go to the movies, $80 Hollister jeans, iTunes downloads, various snack items at school, etc. For that, they must work and budget their money.

:meamie:

 

[Wenchy]

Being a responsible, well-groomed adult (or child) shouldn't be rewarded. We SHOULD clean up after ourselves; we SHOULD make the bed; we SHOULD keep a clean, presentable appearance and house.

It's a matter of responsibility and pride.

 

[marianne]

what chores are appropriate for a 6 year old?

In addition to cleaning up their own messes:
My 3 year old goes around the house with a large trash bag, collecting trash from all the rooms. And she feeds the dog.
The 3 & 5 year old take turns setting the table, cleaning off the table, washing the table, and putting away dishes from the dishwasher.
My 5 year old washes pots and pans in the sink, vaccuums and dusts a little, and folds laundry a bit (towels and easy stuff).

I thought that was sufficient but after reading VRai's post I think I may be adding bathrooms to the list
We don't pay them for chores. At this age they're usually happy being "helpers".

 

[BuddyLee]

I have to do a variety of chores. The main chore the parents subject me to in the Winter is wood cutting, hauling, and burning. In the Summer, grass cutting and weed eating 3 acres.

 

[tikipirate]

I don't have any kids, so I have to put my inner child to work. I beat that little bastard until the bed is made, the kitchen is clean, and the trash is out. Pretty soon I will make him do my taxes. As a reward I might let him go to the Tiki Bar when it opens.

 

[Geek]

I don't have any kids, so I have to put my inner child to work. I beat that little bastard until the bed is made, the kitchen is clean, and the trash is out. Pretty soon I will make him do my taxes. As a reward I might let him go to the Tiki Bar when it opens.

 

[The Jackoholic]

my kids have had chores all thier lives too. when i was with the ex we had all the chores posted on the fridge and they rotated every week what they had to do. if you didn't do your chore, no money for you. If you kept not doing your chores, i didn't yell, i just grabbed the trash you didn't through away, and while you were sleeping i put the bag in bed with you. if you had litter box, and the cat has been jockeying around to find a place to take a dump, then i scooped it out and you woke up in the morning with it. you don't know how long after this is done that the trash and the litter box are emptied right on time.


and if they keep leaving their jackets and shoes around the house, just tose them outside and when they get up in the morning wondering what happened to their jacket, that they "definately hung it up in the closet", went to, you can just point outside. they will get the hint that mom/dad are done playing around.

 

[crabcake]

poker chips are the reward. Each poker chip is worth 5 minutes. That's 5 computer I.M. minutes, 5 T.V. minutes, 5 phone minutes, etc. Save them up and redeem them for the activity of choice. I thought initially this was sort of juvenile for a young person in high school, but it works very well, at least for the time being.

I freakin' LOVE this idea!!! I've been looking for something besides "points" and money "which DQ doesn't care about right now that would put something immediate in her hands for good deeds/chores. Plase PM me what your scale is (e.g. Dishes = 1 blue chip which is good for 5 mins.) DQ loves poker so she'll "get" the concept easily I'm sure. But money gets left around, tssed in the sock drawer, etc., so this would be awesome!!

 

[marianne]

If you kept not doing your chores, i didn't yell, i just grabbed the trash you didn't through away, and while you were sleeping i put the bag in bed with you. if you had litter box, and the cat has been jockeying around to find a place to take a dump, then i scooped it out and you woke up in the morning with it... and if they keep leaving their jackets and shoes around the house, just tose them outside...

I like this. It reminds me of an Oprah episode with Dr. Phil. He was talking about how important it is for the punishment to be tied to what the child did wrong instead of always grounding the kid / sending them to their room.

There was a parent on that show whose child was very spoiled and didn't appreciate the things he had. Dr. Phil basically told the parents to take away the things the child didn't appreciate. They'd eventually have an empty bedroom for the child. Then you'd give them a mattress to sleep on once the child learned to appreciate having a bed. Then a blanket, then a pillow, etc. I know that sounds a bit cruel but you should have seen this kid...

 

[The Jackoholic]

I like this. It reminds me of an Oprah episode with Dr. Phil. He was talking about how important it is for the punishment to be tied to what the child did wrong instead of always grounding the kid / sending them to their room.

There was a parent on that show whose child was very spoiled and didn't appreciate the things he had. Dr. Phil basically told the parents to take away the things the child didn't appreciate. They'd eventually have an empty bedroom for the child. Then you'd give them a mattress to sleep on once the child learned to appreciate having a bed. Then a blanket, then a pillow, etc. I know that sounds a bit cruel but you should have seen this kid...

I'm cruel but the job gets done. it's like your boss saying "hey did those file get sent to San Fran like we needed", and they're sitting in the file box behind you. They have to start learning sometime.

 

[tikipirate]

my kids have had chores all thier lives too. when i was with the ex we had all the chores posted on the fridge and they rotated every week what they had to do. if you didn't do your chore, no money for you. If you kept not doing your chores, i didn't yell, i just grabbed the trash you didn't through away, and while you were sleeping i put the bag in bed with you. if you had litter box, and the cat has been jockeying around to find a place to take a dump, then i scooped it out and you woke up in the morning with it. you don't know how long after this is done that the trash and the litter box are emptied right on time.


and if they keep leaving their jackets and shoes around the house, just tose them outside and when they get up in the morning wondering what happened to their jacket, that they "definately hung it up in the closet", went to, you can just point outside. they will get the hint that mom/dad are done playing around.

What punishment did you dole out if the children didn't use proper spelling, grammar, capitalization or punctuation?

 

[The Jackoholic]

What punishment did you dole out if the children didn't use proper spelling, grammar, capitalization or punctuation?

I forced them to read to forums of SOMD.com