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A Job Well Done!
The Art of Delegating Chores to Your Children
By Gwen Morrison
- Straighten or make bed in the morning, vacuum the carpet, bring in the mail or the newspaper, fill the pet dish, feed the fish, dust baseboards and tables, dust window ledges, pick up leaves, get backpack ready for school, tidy bedroom.
These are just a few examples of things children can do to help out around the house. Keep in mind that the younger the child, the less detail oriented they are. Don't expect too much from them. The idea is to teach your child the value of hard work. We want them to succeed at it, not fail. Their attitudes toward it will be reflected in how you respond to the finished work. Praise them often, but make sure they understand that to run a household, these are things that need to be done.
"Assigning children household chores is one of the best ways to build self-esteem and a feeling of competence," Pantley says. "Children who grow up perceiving chores as a normal part of life will find the flow into adulthood much easier than those without responsibility will."
Giving your children well-established chore routines will promote good work habits and better attitudes about a job well done.