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In our house, we believe that chores are a requirement in order to be a participating member of family life. We don’t give allowances for chores – chores are expected, not rewarded. My own mother didn’t believe in chores and waited on us hand and foot. Sure, we had a wonderfully creative and rich childhood experience, but it sure was tough to develop the self-discipline required to keep my tiny dorm room under control when I went to college.
Emily is very good at remembering her chores, so we don’t keep any kind of regular chore chart. But she has a school trip this year that she expected to contribute towards, so I went hunting for something to track her “trip points”. I found this very cool website filled with free downloadable chore charts. Surprise, surprise, Emily picked the Kitty one featured above – but they have everything from princesses to sports to teddy bears!
We’d love to hear your views on chores. How are they handled in your household? Do your kids have chores? Are they tied to their allowances?
I was also raised without doing chores & suffered the consequences of being unorganized and not knowing how to clean up after myself. My kids (5 & 6) have chore charts. For each chore they complete, they receive a token. 25 tokens = $1.00. We don’t usually buy them toys except for holidays, so if they want something they have to earn their money and buy it themselves. I believe money management is just as important of a skill as organization and cleaning, so combining the two has been a win-win situation for my family.
July 9th, 2010 at 9:28 pm
Thank you! I have been looking for a decent chore chart for my daughter who is 10. In our house you don’t get paid for chores. If she wants spending money she has other extra things she can get paid to do.
July 9th, 2010 at 9:32 pm
I have 2 kids and they are required to keep their rooms clean, bed made, there is no money/allowance for that. If they want their own room they need to keep it clean. We also have chores since the kids are only 6 & 9 they each have only one chore one takes out the garbage for the entire week and the other unloads the dishwasher. They are each paid a $1 on Sunday if they did their chores. My kids don’t mind doing chores because they save their money to buy things like Zany Bands. If they want extra money they just ask if they can do anything extra to earn the money. I usually pay 50 cents per extra chore. My husband and I both work so if the kids help keep the house clean (hubby and I do housework too) then we as a family have more family time. For example we told the kids that if we could get the housework done in one day (Saturday) we would spend all of Sunday at the water park, the kids helped with everything and all day Sunday we were at the water park.
July 9th, 2010 at 10:17 pm
We do give our girls allowance (1 quarter for each year old they are), so they can learn how to manage money but they don’t get that allowance for chores. They are expected to contribute to the house in a way that they are able. If they choose not to do their chores, my husband or I do them, but the girls have to use their money to pay us for our time. If an adult doesn’t want to clean the house, mow the lawn, ect. they have to pay someone to do it. so if my kids don’t want to clean up their rooms or clear the dinner table, they too have to pay someone to do it. When they are are short .50 for that new pack of silly bands the message hits home.
July 10th, 2010 at 6:42 am
I have a horrible time remembering to pay my daughter allowance. Believe it or not she forgets too.
She does has set chores she is expected to do as a contributing member of the household. If she is saving for a trip or something special we’ll pay her for extra chores. But this weekend she helped me mulch and there was no extra money in that. I’m horribly inconsistent, probably damaging her for life.
She’s 11 and her set choirs are empty and fill the dishwasher, re-stock the toilet paper (that is an effort on my part to help her be more aware of her surroundings, but it isn’t working), assist me with the laundry, put away her clothes. The rest of her chores are as I request including things like washing or drying the dishes, taking out the trash, watering the plants, dust, vacuum and generally de-clutter the house.
I am against paying for all chores or grades. Some things you do in life to contribute to the general good, some things you do to improve yourself and some things you do to get a paycheck. It’s ok not to equate money with everything worth while doing in life.
July 12th, 2010 at 10:42 am
Thanks for all of these insightful and thoughtful responses. Julie – I am a fellow sufferer I can’t even remember to make my bed in the morning
Stacy – You’re welcome glad we could help. Lisa – I love your family time idea O am going to institute that in our house. Lynne – I love the idea of letting them pay you to do their chores – it’s great. Ann – my daughter is 12 and her chores are exactly the same as your daughter’s. I absolutely agree with your sentiments on improving yourself. While we may celebrate good grades as a family we always make a point that we are celebrating her effort and not the result.
July 12th, 2010 at 12:15 pm