I just want 10 minutes to myself – let your children do some household tasks

There is no denying that us parents are busy people.  There never seems to be an end to our parental to-do  list.  This can in part be brought about by the fact that we consider it quicker to do things ourselves rather than leave them to our children to do.

And yet  even from a very young age our children are quite capable of helping.   However it can indeed be challenging to take the time to show them how to do household tasks so that in the longer term we reduce our own workload

As important however is that by giving them responsibility and tasks from an early age we help them to develop a good work ethic and learn that creating a pleasant physical home environment is everybody’s responsibility.

Looking back on my own upbringing as the youngest of six children, I now realise that my mother was an excellent manager and she had the great ability to delegate work to us.

I have chosen to delegate less but I am quite aware that I give my children many tasks that my peers are surprised by.  Here are some of the tasks that I have delegated over the years with the approximate age at which I started.   My starting point was to try and see if my child was anywhere close to being able and if they were to give them just enough help until they had it mastered.

Then I stopped doing the tasks.  And yes that is the harder bit as my children do take longer to do the tasks than it would take me but

Age 2 -3

• Tidy toys away (with me when tired)

• Put their own clothes back in drawers (again with me)

• move their dinner plates to the counter

• hand plates to me to put in dishwasher (yes they were the breakable variety)

• Put clothes for washing in their own laundry basket in their room

• Find pairs for their own socks on floor while I iron

• Take cutlery from dishwasher to drawer

• Hold dustpan for me to take up dirt

• Put laundry basket out on landing as soon as full

Age 4 -6

• Wipe down table to floor (then we swept floor together)

• Set the table (I had however left everything on the table for them)

• Put dishes into and out of dishwasher  (had to change where plates were stored so they could put them away )

• Plant seeds

• Weed

• Pick lettuce leaves

• Make rice-krispie buns

• start weighing food for baking

• peel carrots and cut cucumber

Ages 6-12

• Empty kitchen compost

• Bring own laundry basket down to washing machine when full (being short of underpants just once meant that they learned to do it quicker and not get caught out)

• Tidy up after dinner (excluding saucepans and cleaning cooker)

• Keep their bedroom clean and tidy  (about ones every 6-8 weeks i did a mega clean with them and do all the high stuff)

• Put all their clothes away

• help with weeding in garden

• make sure that they had all their gear ready in the morning of extra-curricular activities later in the day (I never searched for gumshields, or football boots)

• Tidy up after friends visited

• help prepare meals with me (including peeling potatoes and chopping veg)

Age 12-17

• Each children learned a number of basic meals that they can cook if I am not home

• Bring in fuel for open fire and light it  (sports injuries remind me of just how much time this one saves me)

• Each child is responsible for own washing (shown how to do a mixed load with a colour catcher)  I still do school uniforms on a Friday evening and if they ask me to do a favourite item .  Ironing is still a bit of a challenge as is hanging out the clothes after they are washed.

• Each child wakes themselves up in the morning  (has worked with one but not the other but I just do one call).

• They are responsible for ensuring that their grades hold regardless of other activities.

• They ensure that they keep me up to date with when they need to get lifts and always checked over breakfast.  If they don’t tell me I do not need to do it and they have to figure things out for themselves.

• Cut the grass

We as the parents hold the key as to how much involvement our children have in household tasks.  My own experience is that they thrive on responsibility and praise and encouragement goes a long way to balancing out the workload in the family.  It has the added benefit of leaving more time to talk and engage with our children because the workload is shared.

 

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Mary Corbett is a founder member of  Parenting Club,  author, life and business coach and mother of 2 busy children aged 12 and 17.