Our children are different ages and have very different ideas of what counts as an impossible chore. The older one can handle laundry and basic meal prep, while the younger can put toys away but needs a reminder every few minutes. I'd like the chores to feel like part of living together rather than punishment for making a mess. How do you set expectations that grow with age without constantly comparing siblings or paying for every small task?
Deciding what chores are realistic for different ages
- parenting
- what
- chores
- realistic
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I wouldn’t pay for every task unless you really need to jump-start the habit. Once money enters every chore, kids start acting like roommate...
I wouldn’t pay for every task unless you really need to jump-start the habit. Once money enters every chore, kids start acting like roommates with a bad contract.
The part that helped in our house was not comparing kids at all. Each one had their own list, and we talked about “your job” instead of “why can’t you do what your sibling does.”
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We use a rotating list so the older kid doesn’t get stuck with the same thing forever. It feels less like punishment when the chores change...
We use a rotating list so the older kid doesn’t get stuck with the same thing forever. It feels less like punishment when the chores change and everyone sees the pattern.
1 reply
We had better luck tying chores to household jobs than to “because I said so.” If the younger one can put toys away, that’s real work; it ju...
We had better luck tying chores to household jobs than to “because I said so.” If the younger one can put toys away, that’s real work; it just needs a smaller chunk and maybe a timer.
That’s the key, I think. Age matters, but so does making the task specific enough that they can actually finish it without a three-hour moral debate.