HOW TO GET YOUR CHILD TO DO HOUSEWORK

“When I was young, my mom always nagged at me because I never wash my cups. Now I nag at my daughter because she always leaves her cup on the table overnight. She never washes her cup,” one exasperated parent can be overheard having a conversation among like-minded peers over a cup of tea.

It looks like nobody likes to do household chores. By definition, a chore is a tedious but necessary task.

But as parents, we have to teach our toddlers and pre-schoolers to do chores. Why so? Because they will learn responsibility. We see adults pushing the trolleys out of supermarkets and leaving the trolleys by the side of the road, or worse, take them back home! Maybe they never do choreswhen they were young. We guess that is the reason why they are so irresponsible.

These days, with domestic helpers doing all the chores for the children, no wonder they behave like they own the world. They eventually turn into spoilt brats, and full of self-entitlement.

We can make chores fun for our children so that they will enjoy doing it!

Here are 15 tips for getting your children to get their chores done:

1. Be specific and clear with your instructions.
2. Praise and encourage.
3. Draw a chart to delegate the work to different people.
4. Draw 4 columns. Who does what by when?
5. When it is done, put a star or a check next to the task.
6. Agree with your children on a reward if they collect a certain number of stars.
7. Negotiate the chores they can or willing to do
8. Arrange the toys back to where they belong.
9. Make and tidy the bed.
10. Put the dirty clothes in the laundry basket.
11. Clean the spill.
12. Put the food in the pet’s dish.
13. Clear the table after a meal.
14. Empty wastebasket.
15. Water the plant.

The list is not exhaustive, and some tips may not be suitable for your situation. Adopt, adjust and align your objectives along the way. Be creative and start somewhere. Be consistent and your children will gradually be conformed to perform household chores willingly. The change begins right now!