Have you made your bed today?
Or
Did you put your toys back in their place after playing?

We often hear parents ask children at home these questions, hoping to get some relief from the non-stop energy balls and distract kids into being occupied while they complete the chores. There has always been a debate about whether to involve kids in household chores with parents taking it with an element of doubt and guilt. Parents often confront themselves with questions like: ‘Let the kids be kids, are we stealing their childhood?, they have to do all this once they grow up’ or think of a different perspective.

On the other hand, parents often lament that these daily household chores take away their time that they could have spent with their kids. Create your own family game called the ‘Chores Battles’, make it unique and meaningful to you as a family. Just like other habits, making chores fun, exciting and interesting for kids by doing them together allows kids to view them as a part of their routine and you get to escape from this parental guilt trap!

Argh Chores Again…Why?

Needless to say that chores help kids learn responsibility and self-reliance. Tasks that personally affect kids directly, such as cleaning their room or doing their own laundry, help them to become responsible for their work and self-reliant. Engaging in such chores builds a sense of pride and maturity and provides them with a sense of accomplishment. It makes them realize that they must care for themselves along with their family members. Helping while cooking meals, dusting the house, opening doors for guests, serving them water, setting or clearing the table are some of the ways, to begin with these jobs.

Daily chores give families a chance to bond with their little ones. Doing chores together helps create special moments between adults & children and they learn more about each other from these experiences. Sharing housework can also help families work better and reduce family stress. Little ones who always want to help would feel important and have a boost of self-esteem; while moody teens may decide to open up over a shared task with their guards down. When children help out, chores get done sooner and parents get more time to spend with children. This frees up time for the family to do fun things together. Prepare a quirky family ‘Chore Wheel’ and take turns to spin the wheel and get your daily tasks.

We are a Family

Doing chores together in a fun manner makes the kids realize that it’s a joint effort, every little contribution matters, and play an important role as a member of the family, irrespective of their age. This will instill a sense of pride and responsibility in the child. It will also reinforce the idea that the family contributes to how the household runs. Children should be allowed to choose the job of their interest than imposing the tasks on them. Children can also be given some incentive for their work which could be allowance money, trips to new places, buying them their favourite chocolate, toys, story books, something they like and value to them!

Chore it Away!

Daily chores help kids learn the trait of being grateful and appreciative. It’s important to think about chores or tasks that get your child involved in caring for the family. It takes moving away from home for most of us to fully appreciate all our parents’ hard work around the house. Our children are likely no different, but assigning them chores may help this insight come a little earlier. Kids may become more aware of the mess they make if they’re tasked with cleaning up around the house, and more respectful of the work that goes into maintaining a home.

Even though it is difficult at times to get children on board to do household chores, persistent efforts are needed to positively convince them. Learning to do these chores is an ongoing process that brings along a lot of attainment. Children are not born with these traits; they develop them gradually as they grow wise and mature. These basic daily jobs help in nurturing several life traits like work ethics, improvement in the planning, and endowing excellent management skills.

“Do not handicap your children by making their lives easy”
– Robert A. Heinlein