Have you ever wondered if it would be beneficial for your child to do household chores?
A lot of parents go back and fourth on if it is a good idea to give children chores or not.
Do children actually benefit from doing chores around the house?
Does it make us as parents lazy or to harsh to expect our children to learn these skills?
Let’s get started!
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Benefits of Household Chores
Chores are something no one really likes to do.
However, there are so many benefits that come with teaching our children that chores are important.
Many parents differ in their opinion on chores in the home some feel like they are being mean to their children and some feel like their kids are to young.
Children of all ages can help out with some chores.
Fact is that when they are on their own someday, they are going to have to figure it out for themselves.
Personally it seems even more mean to send our children into the world without the skills they need to make it on their own.
Lets take a look at why chores are a healthy part of your child's development.
Household Chores Help Teach Life skills
Our children depend on us to teach them the majority of life essentials.
Many people depend on the schools to do this for us.
That sure would be great, but that's not the case.
The schools job isn't to send our children into the world knowing things a parent should be teaching at home.
It is so important for parents to set a good foundation of life skills in their children before they ever even enter school.
Of course as they grow they will need to learn age appropriate skills.
Teaching them how to do their laundry, helping them prepare meals, teaching them how to keep their rooms clean, and even learning how to manage money are all great places to start.
Our children will be better adults if they learn these skills when they are young and have a routine with them.
Household Chores Teach Responsibility
Teaching your children a regular set of household chores will teach them to be responsible.
When they grow up and move out on their own they will need to know how to be responsible for many things.
A job is one of the many things on that list.
Knowing how to manage their time to complete a task for work will help them have a good healthy work ethic.
It is proven that a child is easier to teach a routine to than someone who is older.
Things like cleaning their room and doing their own laundry will help them be self-reliant.
If we allow our children to rely on us for everything, when they get older they will not be able to care for themselves and will need someone else to help them do it.
We want to raise responsible and self-reliant children so that we know they will be ok when we no longer can provide care for them.
Teaching Teamwork
Children need to be able to work as a team in many work settings.
Teaching them at home where mistakes can be easily forgiven and corrected will save them from later making a huge mistake that could end up costing a company a lot of money.
Learning how to work with others is a life skill that children need to learn.
In the real world, it takes many people doing different jobs to end up with with a finished product.
However, when one of those people don't communicate or complete their job correctly, it can cause the finished product to have faults.
Teach them that working together to complete house work results in a clean healthy environment.
We want our children to be successful, so teaching that each chore is linked together for the final result helps show them what it takes to be successful in life.
Reinforcing Respect Using Household Chores
Respect is usually something children learn after leaving home and being on their own.
Reality sets in and they realize everything they took for granted as a child was because of the work someone else did.
However, you can help that set in earlier using household chores.
Teaching children to respect you doesn't come from how hard you spank them or how much you yell at them.
Respect comes from making them see what your job as a parent looks like.
Do not hide how much you do everyday to ensure they have a happy healthy childhood, and are able to have their needs or wants met.
Giving them responsibilities in the home will help them realize how much mom and dad have to do.
When a child is expected to clean up after themselves, they begin to get a sense of the amount of messes they make.
Children have no idea what goes into maintaining a home unless we teach them.
Using Chores To Build A Strong Work Ethic
Teaching children chores will help them build the concept that when they do a job well done, they get a reward.
This reward doesn't have to be money.
There are so many ways to reward your children at home.
Rewarding them with electronic time or even playing outside.
The point is to instill in your child that when they work hard and do a good job they get a reward.
Same as when they're an adult, when they go to work and work hard, they get a pay check.
Teaching this concept young will help them build a strong work ethic for the future.
When they are teenagers you can encourage them to get small jobs outside the home where they can receive payment for their work.
Time Management And Planning
Household chores are a great way to prepare your children for time management and planning.
When children are taught how to manage school work, chores, and a social life it helps them learn to prioritize their lives.
As adults they will have to learn to plan and manage all these things.
When they have time to make mistakes at home, where it can be corrected with little consequences, they will be less likely to struggle when they are on their own and it could cost them their job or even their relationships.
Help your children learn to do this by making a set routine at home.
You don't have to go all out making a set time frame for each task, but it's still important to have a set plan on how to get a task completed.
With my children they know to come home get a snack, read and do school work, then chores.
Once they complete their chores they have some times to play outside, and then their reward is having electronic time after dinner.
They have gotten so used to this that they look at the clock on their own and just automatically manage their time.
They also have learned how to prioritize what is most important.
This skill does take time to master, but if you stick with it you will set your children up for a bright future.
Using Chores To Bond With Your Children
This is the reason I feel no shame in giving my children chores at home.
Doing chores with your children is a great way to be more involved with them.
While you are teaching your child how to do chores, you are bonding in a whole different way with your child.
Teaching these skills to your children will make them feel important and give them a sense of entitlement at a job well done.
It may feel like chores take time away from doing fun things with your children.
However, doing chores with your child will give teachable moments with them that will last them a lifetime.
Doing chores together will also give you a moment to have quality conversations with your children.
Try looking at chores as a chance to instill something good in your children instead of looking at it as painful work.
It's also a great chance to get to spend time with your children well being productive.
There are so many great benefits that come from household chores.
I hope that if you have thought negatively about giving your children chores, that you take the opportunity to rethink it.
Young children want to help, so it is best to use that to your advantage and start young.
Share your thoughts in the comments and let me know how you feel about giving children household chores.
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