“Teaching a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” It sounds good in theory. But is it realistic to make your kids “work”? They are supposed to study or play or do something other than “work”. Parents “work” for the future of their kids, right? But that’s exactly why kids should do a little work --- to learn responsibility. It’s good for their futures.

They should know how to do things like: clean up after themselves by putting their toys and books away. Perhaps they should even throw out the trash / separate the stuff for recycling / help for the laundry / dust the house /clean the floor. If they are older, they can set the table or wash the dishes. (Actually, in my house, washing the dishes is my job). Those are just some ideas of things that kids can do.

Sure, one of the first things that may come to mind is “Cinderella”, but it’s not like they are doing this all day long. They may do their “chore” once a day or even once a week. But it’s THEIR job. Not Mom’s. When we talk about young kids and education, most agree that it should be fun, or the kids will get sick of it.

When we clean our house, we sometimes turn on music. We often all clean together. For example, when it’s time to clean the floor, we might get two damp rags each and skate around the room. We also clean the car together. When we all clean together, we give each other energy. But doing some things alone to learn a sense of responsibility is crucial. Having a kid who is always dependent makes life hard for a parent.

Talk about it.

Is it cool to make kids to chores? Do your kids have any house chores? What are some common house chores? What can children learn from doing chores? How can you make chores more fun? How often should children do chores? What kinds of work shouldn’t kids do around the house? What do you think of children who don’t do chores? What chores did you do when you were younger? How did you feel about doing house chores?