CHORES FOSTER RESPONSIBILTY
by
Tania Cowling
Children
love to feel important and a part of your everyday activities. Empowering
your child with simple tasks will, in turn, cultivate a feeling of
responsibility and a sense of accomplishment. Regular chores, during
the preteen and teen years, can help foster your child's sense of
competence and self-esteem, as well as reinforce the idea that he's
a valuable member of the family. When you do assign chores, remember
that giving an adolescent challenging jobs keeps him more engaged
and demonstrates your trust. One way to do this is to respect your
child's need for autonomy by allotting his complete responsibility
for a certain task whenever possible. Appropriate chores might include:
*
planting,
watering, and weeding one part of your garden.
*
keeping
one or more rooms clean (besides his own)
*
doing
the laundry (including folding and ironing) once or twice a week.
*
planning,
help cooking and cleaning up after one dinner each week.
*
painting
a room (possibly their bedroom)
*
mowing
the lawn.
*
having
total responsibility for the care of a pet.
*
organizing
the pantry, playroom shelves, or the garage. Have a meeting to discuss
the style of organization you want and let your child do the work.
*
babysitting
younger siblings one night a week so you can enjoy an evening out.
*
managing
the family's recycling efforts (sorting various categories, and taking
the bins or bags out to the curb on collection day.)
A
major question that comes up in preteen households is Should I
pay my child for doing chores? Some
parents feel that allowance shouldn't be used as compensation for
routine household chores because they should be done for the sake
of helping the family. But even if this is your family's belief, at
times you may want to pay your preteen for doing extra work
around the house, maybe beyond the chores assigned. This builds responsibility
in another areaÜmoney management. Teens can also make money by doing
household chores and yard work for neighbors. This is something that
is quite helpful during the long summer months.