Most parents always hope and wish that their children could help more with household chores, but the reality is that children repel from doing chores. Studies have indicated that when children help out more in the household they are more likely to help others outside of the house. This in turn makes them better citizens of the world. Here are some reasons why kids don’t like helping out:
- Kids hate chores! Kids find there are always better ways to spend their time and feel they would rather being doing just that spending it elsewhere. They are unable to grasp the importance of helping out in their youth. A solution to this is to, make doing chores fun for the whole family. If you insist on making chores laborious and boring they will avoid household chores like the plague. This can be a time where you and your child can bond and become good at something. Over time your child can end up enjoying it. Who knows they may even be able to pick up valuable skills along the way.
- We find doing chores much easier if we just do it ourselves! We obviously can get more done without waiting for others to do it, so why ask your child to get involved and do chores in the house. That’s how we perceive it.
A solution to this is that we need to start changing our attitude towards doing chores ourselves when teaching our kids. This will help our children learn to feel good about contributing to something of value in the household. Children will start to understand the value of working together. It doesn’t matter how old your child is they will enjoy the time you spend with them doing chores. This will also teach your child teamwork and problem solving skills.
- Kids are also busy and they need us to help them. Kids go to school, they have homework to do as well as other extracurricular activities. A solution is that when your child has regular school in attendance make sure you give him or her chores that he or she could handle in short amounts of time, and when school is out then, they can take up more chores. Also make sure you teach them basic life skills and their importance in contributing to the household.
- Children don’t complete tasks thoroughly. Just admit that you probably didn’t do chores thoroughly either at the same age. A solution is to break down chores into smaller steps so kids can learn how to do the chores in a proper fashion. Also, focus on the positive aspects of the chore that he or she does; for example, if your child does a horrible job hanging his or her clothes in the closet look at the positive and commend him or her on the fact that at least he or she did take the time out to do it. Over time they will get better at the task.
- We sometimes hear our kids forget to do their responsibilities. Kids have a lot to do and a lot on their minds so it’s only natural they would forget their responsibilities to do as well. You can also expect them to complain a bit when doing their chores. The best solution is not to give up on them and when your child starts complaining just reiterate, empathize and restate to them what is expected. Remember this does not mean nagging. Try to make a written routine of your child’s schedule including their chores worked into that schedule as a reminder to the whole family.
from the book “Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids” by Dr. Laura Markham