I have to be honest; I struggle with getting my kids to do chores. It is so much easier to just do the chores myself than to convince, bribe, threaten, or force my kids to do them. Some days, my kids just obey perfectly and getting chores accomplished is super easy. Most day however, I usually end up doing them because I do not want to have to deal with the headache of making them do them.
This is where I have failed as a mom in my opinion, because it is my duty to teach my boys real life skills and most importantly how to respect their mother. It is so much easier said than done to get your kids to “do what you say” but it is something that I believe all parents must commit to doing.
We are not just raising the next generation or the next world leaders but we are raising someone’s spouse, someone’s parent. Therefore, we need to make sure that we are raising children that are not only capable and competent with the ways of making a house a home but also in knowing how to work.
In order to keep up with and to remind myself that my boys are perfectly capable of making beds and helping with the laundry, I have come up with a printable chore chart that I now keep on our fridge. I adapted this list of Age-Appropriate Chores from the book If I have to Tell You One More Time * by Amy McCready.
Since I have two kids that are only 19 months apart and planning to add a third baby to our family sometime in the near future, I decided to keep the chores list on two pages instead of individual pages to make keeping track easier. The printable below is an editable .pdf document so you can add your children’s names and check off what chores have been done without printing off the list if you like. I prefer to keep it on my fridge since this list is more to remind me than to remind them. However, you could easily print out the pages, cut out the age sections and have individual smaller lists for each child. Whatever floats your boat. 🙂
Download your free Age Appropriate Chore Chart here.
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Emily says
I agree, sometimes it’s so tempting to just do the chore myself. But because of the points you listened, I try to NOT do that! It can be frustrating some days though. Occasionally my 3.5 year old will be super helpful and I just love it…it makes me see that the frustrating days are worth it!
Also-the more they learn now, the less that mama will have to clean later! I am all about raising little helpers. 🙂
Amy @ DebtGal says
Chores are a challenge in my house, too. The reminding drives me absolutely nuts, plus the control-freak in me has a hard time accepting that things may not always be done the way I would’ve done them. 🙂
Jessi says
Oh yes! I’m a total control freak and it truly takes all of my strength not to “correct” the way Conner makes his bed. #pullinghairout 🙂
Vanessa Duncan says
I know what you mean. I also struggle with convincing the kids help me with the cleaning and very often I end up doing their chores. I think that this is normal and has nothing to do with failing as a mother. Kids just don’t like to clean or spend time on doing chores – it’s not fun! I think that that will not make them bad people when they grow up! Thanks for sharing the post!