Whether to let children participate in household chores or not is a matter of choice for the parents. Some believe that kids should only do what they’re cut out for at this point in life—to play and just be kids. There are others who believe that kids, as part of the family, should naturally take part in home chores too.
But parents should remember that what kids are trained for will most likely manifest into their adulthood. They will not stay little and naive forever, and so, must be given the opportunities to learn how to fend for themselves. Letting them participate in household chores is one way to do that.
Forget about feeling guilty when assigning them tasks. If they’re stubborn about participating in the chores, don’t give up by doing all of them yourself. You’re actually doing them a favor by training them with these early on, even during preschool years. Learn just how much their involvement with home chores can benefit them:
Teaches them lifelong skills
Cooking, doing the laundry, washing the dishes, cleaning their rooms, budgeting, and even self-care tasks are essential life skills for everyone to have. Soon, the kids will grow, and they’ll move out. It’s the parents’ responsibility to teach their kids the most crucial life skills before they leave home.
Instills in them respect
Your kids may just throw away their toys anywhere, dump clothes clean or not into the basket of dirty clothes, and just mess around without thinking about you who have to go through hassles cleaning after their mess.
Unless they experience doing the task themselves, they’re not going to realize the home, any objects, or your efforts to clean the house deserve respect. They might even just be thinking that the home cleans after itself.
Makes them responsible
Assigning tasks to your kids is one way to teach them to be responsible. You may want to assign them one aspect at home, be it the family pet, their toys, or their bedroom—anything related to them. Responsibility is a skill that can greatly help them achieve more when they grow up.
Helps them to become self-reliant
When you assign tasks to your kids, and they’re able to accomplish them without being micromanaged, it teaches them to be self-reliant; hence, confident about their own skills and capabilities.
Improves their self-esteem
Some parents tend to exempt their kids from household chores because they have yet to do a lot of schoolwork or athletic practices. If they should fail in their exams or the sports they choose, kids may think they’ve failed you too.
But when you allow them to be involved with home chores and appreciate them when done, it makes them realize that self-esteem is not based on excelling at academics, sports, or any other competitive aspects. Completing even the little tasks at home is just as important too.
Introduces to them a work ethic
Later in life, your kids will deal with more complex tasks, especially when they’re already embarking on a career. That would still take longer years ahead but why not start teaching them to work ethics as early as now?
Having a good work ethic, a mindset of finishing tasks once started, and giving their best in everything is crucial as they grow older. You can turn this into an entrepreneurial lesson, paying or rewarding them with anything after doing their job well.
Teaches them teamwork
Everyone at home being assigned with chores, it’s easy to make your kids feel they’re part of a team. Learning how to work in a team can greatly benefit kids in the future, as it enables them to listen effectively, delegate tasks, rely on others for some aspects, help others, and many other skills.
Kick starts their planning skills
When kids help around the house, planning will be a part of it. Once they’re given responsibilities and allowed to do the planning, they learn how to think ahead so that they can finish them.
How to Get Your Kids to Doing Chores
When it’s not fun nor something they can relate to or are capable of, kids will be far from interested. Make it fun; better yet, pay them for a job well done. Assigning them tasks the first time, be sure to do it with them all the time until your kid becomes capable of doing it on their own.
Be clear about their daily or weekly tasks, and tell them why such tasks should be done. Take interest in how they finished their chores, and most importantly, praise them for their job well done by word, money, or other forms of rewards.
