Chores Galore

We had the chance to brim with pride on Sunday (and it certainly had nothing to do with football!). The clouds looked suddenly heavy and thundery at our barbeque. The washing was on the line because I’d forgotten to wash the school uniform the day before. Our friends don’t mind. I called D (12 yrs) over and asked if he wouldn’t mind taking in the washing while the rest of us tidied up the food etc. Little star folded and flattened beautifully. And the compliments were flowing.

Our boys have had chores since they were six years old: tidying their rooms, putting clothes away, emptying the dishwasher, filling the washing machine, bringing in the washing, doing pack lunches and now they even cook. We do give them pocket money, now up to £3.50 per week. But we have never paid them to do regular chores. We do pay for the extras, like mowing the lawn - seems only fair.

Over the years we have had heard plenty backchat along the lines of, ‘None of my friends have to do this stuff!’ But as they have grown a bit older, it’s more along the lines of, ‘I can’t believe X is so lazy, he never helps his mum,’ or ‘I can’t believe Y can’t boil an egg.’ We hope these responsibilities give them confidence and self-esteem and teach them some basic life skills.