The other day one of my co-workers was telling me how at the end of the evening she helps her seven-month-old put her toys away. Now we all know that a seven-month-old is likely not picking up her toys and taking them to the spot they need to be such as a toy box or shelf, but what her mom is doing is holding her, picking up the toys, and putting them away. I say it’s never too young to teach them to put away their things. That little girl is going to grow up learning to be responsible and care for her belongings.
I recently read “Harvard did a 75-year study on the connection between chores and success later in life. And the study concluded that children who do chores from an early age are more successful later in life and happier. But the most surprising connection of all was the connection between chores and self-esteem.”
It is so important to teach our children how to do chores at an early age. Statistics from Parent.com show that only 28% of parents have their kids do chores. We are doing our kids a disservice not to teach them that doing chores is the responsibility of the entire household and not only a parent’s job. A family that does chores together is a happier family in the long run. Well maybe some of the family members are happier than others!
With my three kids we started them with picking up and putting away their toys every time they were done playing with them. They were also responsible for keeping their rooms picked up and putting things away where they belonged daily.
Every other week we would do a thorough cleaning of the entire house. The chores were all listed and assigned to each of us. As a team we would conquer the cleaning and then we would go out for a treat. The treat was the motivator!
A toddler or preschooler can help with so many things besides picking up toys. They can help with putting groceries away, vacuuming or sweeping, folding clothes, preparing snacks, lunches, and parts of meals. Every little bit counts. As they grow, you can add more responsibilities for them to do. A comment I saw on the internet really made sense “You don’t treat them as chores, it’s just things we do as a family to maintain our home.”
When my three were all in elementary school or older, every day they each had a chore to do to help with preparing for supper. One would unload the dishwasher, one would set the table, one would clean off the table and my husband always loaded the dishwasher. I was the cook and made sure I taught the kids how to prepare the meals. My oldest son at the age of three had a miniature kitchen in our kitchen and he would pretend to be cooking supper while I cooked our supper.
Today I have three highly successful adult children that know how to do chores, take the responsibility for their part of their household. They also know how to cook. But most importantly they are successful in their jobs. What are you teaching your kids?