Monday, May 24, 2010

Life Skills

Do your children do chores? Do you call it chores? Do they get paid for it? How old were they when you started?

These are all questions I have about this and would love for you to give me your feed back in the comments.

Jake is too young to be paid for things he does to help...but am I wrong?

At this age we call them life skills and feel the things he is learning to do are part of growing up and all are things you need to learn.

At 2 he is learning to make his bed. He carries his plate to the sink & wipes off the table after each meal. He also helps to load & unload the dishwasher.  Along with other small things around the house.

He loves to help & I really work on letting him.  I recently read a blog post at passionate homemaking about learning experiences around the house. It was great and inspiring. Gave me more ideas of where to let Jake help. It takes a little more time, but really aren't these life skills are children need to learn?

I think for now we are focusing on the life skill aspect and being a part of the family. Not the chore get paid for it kind of stuff. But really I would love to hear your thoughts!!

2 comments:

  1. My daughter is three and we haven't really considered chores with her. Our children will be expected to do things around the house, mainly picking up after themselves and being in charge of their personal space. We haven't talked about giving them money yet and I'm not sure if we will or not. I guess I'm conflicted because I don't want to have to pay them to get their help, if that makes sense. I think that there are things that you should just do. Taking care of themselves is something they're going to have to do when they're on their own and no one's going to pay them then. I don't know...lol

    As of now, Emily makes her bed and is in charge of picking up her things. We're talking about trying out more responsibility with her but not sure of where yet.

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  2. As you know, my girls are 1 and 3. We haven't really used the "chores" language yet since they are still so young.

    That being said, my husband & I both try to set an example of working around the house cheerfully and willingly every day. We also include our 3-year-old in setting the table, cooking dinner, etc.

    stephanie@metropolitanmama.net

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