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Blended Families
Chores Poll
What kind of chores to your kids and skids do?
How old are they?
Do you pay them for it?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Chores Poll
We have my SD on weekends. She is 16 so we certainly expect her to clean up after herself. She maintains her room and helps me with the dishes. We do not pay her for those things.
Elijah is too young to do chores though lately he has been trying to "help" with any trash can he can reach.
Christian will have 1 - 3 things to do when he gets home from school that must be done by the time we get home. Things like:
Those are regular things. I have gotten creative sometimes so he won't feel like he is doing the same thing over and over again. For instance there is a project I have been trying to get finished which is painting a small cabinet. We've had him finish painting it the last couple of days. Something different for him to do and I think he has actually enjoyed it because it is actually getting done!
He is 16
No, we do not pay him for doing chores. He does get money every pay day for lunch or extras if he saves it, but it is not based upon his chores.
Not really "chores" yet, but both boys do things daily on their own:
Morning: Get up, get their own breakfast, brush their teeth, get dressed, put their dirty clothes down the laundry chute, make their bed, pack their snack for school
At meals: get their own beverage, help set the table, clear their own dirty dishes
Nighttime: shower on their own, brush their teeth, get on their pjs
Anytime: they are responsible for wiping up or sweeping up any spills or messes they make and for scrubbing stains out before their clothes go in the wash
For all of the above and good behavior, they get 25 cents a day. If they are off-task in the morning or at bedtime or if they don't listen, they put their quarter in jeoparday. They also get 25 cents a day for good behavior at school and a good report from their teachers.
Also, they help mop the floors and put away laundry sometimes.
SS lived with us from 10 yrs old to 14 yrs old.
He washed his own bathroom, made his bed, vacuumed his room, washed his own clothes.
We would ask him sometimes to put the dishes in the dishwasher, or help with the yardwork.
He didn't get paid but he did get an extra half and hour, or an hour of outside play time, or video game, or TV if there was a special movie on or soemthing like that.
SS does not have any "set" chores. He's expected to clean his room on a regular basis and keep it neat. We usually make him pick it up about twice a week and we clean it out about every 6 months ago to get rid of clutter and toss old/broken toys and give old clothes to Goodwill.
He helps with laundry sometimes. He's expected to clean up after himself when he eats (clear dishes and rinse them). He'll mow the lawn occasionally. He'll vaccuum from time to time.
Other than that, he doesn't really have any chores. We'll pay him every once in awhile for "special" things that he helps us with. Other than that, he doesn't make any money. But we usually buy him stuff here and there anyway. The kid wants for nothing.
Pinky and pete are five and six. They set and clear the table, clean their rooms, make their beds, pete helps dad with the lawn and they pick up their own bathroom. They also make their own lunches for school.
We don't pay them and I don't think we ever will. I think some day they'll have a stipend of some sort but only until they are old enough to get side jobs like lawn care or babysitting. I'll continue to buy certain things for them but if they want something that exceeds what I'm willing to pay, they'll have to make up the difference by doing odd jobs outside of their normal chores or otherwise find the money themselves.
Click me, click me!
We mix chores/responsibilities on a chart that they check off each thing they do. They get paid per checkmark. It's a big list, not sure I can remember it all.... My kids are 8 and 10.
Morning: Up, breakfast, dressed and teetbrushed. (make lunch if they take)
After school: Homework, put shoes on the rack, hang up coat, school papers to Mom, pack up backpack ready for next day.
Take care of guinea pigs (water, food, hay, clean out the cage), vacuuming (guinea pigs kick lots of stuff on the floor, yuck.)
Evening: Keep room clean, put dirty laundry in basket and bring down to laundry room when full, bathe, brush teeth...
Then on the weekends, they get paid extra for optional work which they will often choose to do such as cleaning up their bathroom, vacuuming or other odd jobs etc. They aren't paid for everything they do and it is not a huge amount of money. But we do try to try reward to effort.....
DD is too young for chores. We practice putting her toys in her basket and she tips it over right away and looks for my reaction
SS is almost 8. His regular responsibilities are to clean his room, clean up after himself (including messes/spills), and fold and put away his laundry. I will transition him to doing his laundry at some point when I feel he is ready. He does not get paid for those. He has "extra" chores he can do for money but so far hes pretty unmotivated to do them. Those include doing the dishes, taking out the trash, helping to clean the bathrooms, and sweeping up the backyard.
"C" (16) is responsible for trash on Monday nights (out to the curb for p/u on Tuesday) and for vaccuuming the entire house on Saturdays.
"B" (14) is responsible for trash on Thursday nights (out to the curb for p/u on Friday) and for sweeping/mopping the kitchen floor as well as the tile entry way at the front door and laundry room
Each night the boys switch off on setting or clearing the table at dinner and is responsible for washing their own clothes on Saturdays.
SD is only at our house for a week maybe two a year and she is at that time given chores to do as well but it varies each year.
Reading this list makes me insane.
My 13 yo SS does nothing at our house (and likely at his mothers). I have tried charts, monetary rewards, everything I can think of.
All I expect is that he picks up after himself, but that does not even come close to happening. One weekend he left his dirty clothes on the dining room floor, a soaking wet pool towel on the floor by the front door, his dirty underwear (ewww) on the landing on the steps, and at least 4 empty gatorade bottles scattered throught the living room and kitchen, wet bathing suit on bathroom floor, and that is what I can remember. This was all at one time.
I consistently find candy/food wrappers stuffed in the couch cushions, or have to chase the dog down to get them away from her. It is not unusual for there to be 3 or 4 empty glasses/bottles and dirty plates/silverware after a few hours of him being there.
More than anything it is the lack of personal responsibility that makes me nuts. Instead of getting his stuff together and carrying his bag to the car when he is going home, he will leave it everywhere and just go get in the car, after being asked to get it together. DH winds up doing it, just to not start a fight. I say leave the crap there. He knows that if he does not put his stuff away, I will take it, and I won't give it back. I have quite the collection of wrestling DVD's and Wii games as well as hats, and other random games.
It makes me sad when I hear that there are 5 year olds who can make their own beds-he seriously does not know how. And that children that young are capable of setting/clearing the table-he will leave his dishes sit there for 2 days (and has, that was a fun experiment). This is what happens when you do everything for your child, instead of taking the time to teach them to do and think for themselves. I said to him once that it is only fair that when I make him dinner, he clears off his dirty dishes, and puts them in the sink. He told me I had to do it, I was his maid-it got ugly.
SS is 13 (will be on Thrus)
He has to keep his room clean (through out the week)
He cleans up after himself (putting dishes away)
He has to set the dinner plates (even if we are eating in front of the tv
He has to clean up the dinner pots and dishes.
He does his own laundry (after the 3 week in a row where I asked him to bring me his clothes to do - I cannot pick up the baskets right now - and his refusal to do so - - which lead to running out of clean clothes, I stopped doing his laundry all together)
He has to clean his bathroom once a week.
He has added chores as consequences to his actions as well
He DOES get an allowance ($5) but he seems to go through it like water. WHich is what we are LOOKING for so he learns how to save.
SD is 8
She used to have chores that she could earn money for but we haven't done that in a while mainly since she hasn't really had any chores to do, she is responsible for things however.
1. Make her bed every morning
2. Put clean clothes away
3. Keep room clean
4. Clean up after herself (dishes/trash put in proper place after dinner)
5. She picks up after the dogs when they make a mess (not poop, they have a tendency to like to tear stuff up).
6. She will do some other occassional things to help out.
The first year before SD ran off, she only had the chore of doing her own laundry, keeping her own room and own bath clean. Sometimes we'd give her other chores as a punishment, but the kid had it real good. THen she ran off for two weeks.
When she came back, we gave her the same chores, with the exception of the bathroom because our "new" house only has one bathroom. She was required to only clean up after her self after she used the bathroom. We also insisted she focus on graduating high school, so minimal occassional household chores were given to her.
Then she ran off AGAIN. When she came back, we said that's it. She had to earn her way and "rent" with us by doing much more chores. She regularly had to do all the previous chores and I had cleaning chores for her every other day.
No. We never paid her. Her dad would pay her to wash his truck and some other tougher, outdoor chores like rip out a fenceline with her brother. They got paid for hard labor, but basic chores? No. Absolutely not would I pay a child to do easy, reasonable tasks that teach them self sufficiency.
Our kids each have one daily chore, and then we all share the weekly chores.
Daily chores include: emptying the dishwasher, loading the dishwasher and tidying kitchen after dinner, doing laundry, feeding dogs, taking out trash.
Weekly chores include: Dusting, vacuuming, cleaning kitchen and bathroom, wiping down entry way floors, picking up dog poop.
All the kids, 8, 10, 12, and 14 can do pretty much everything, although 8 y.o. SS does need supervision on most things.
Our kids don't get paid for doing these chores. If we need something else done, or if they take on something extra, or do a really awesome job, we might pay them, or buy them a toy they want or whatever.
Note on laundry - 14 y.o. DD was in charge of laundry for all kids, but all my SK's have hygiene issues (not wiping, bed wetting, encopresis), so they are each responsible for their own laundry.