Teaching Children: The Value of Chores

 

Growing up, doing chores around the home was a given.

My two siblings and I had chores for as long as we can remember – stuck to the side of the kitchen fridge, my organized and tidy mother posted a schedule of our weekly household chores. And we did them. There was no need for money or prizes or gifts or allowances – we just knew that, as part of the family, we were to help out.

 

Now as a parent, my mother’s organization and dedication in teaching us chores is a gem! It has been a standard for our children, as well, to do their household daily chores.

Here are some reasons why I believe your children should be doing chores:

1. You are not super mom. You cannot clean the entire house, make a nutritious dinner, get your children ready for school – or homeschool them – and do every task that is required of you, along with keeping your house clean. Everyone helps make the mess, in general, so therefore everyone should be helping clean the house.

 

2. Your children need to learn how to clean their future houses. That is something I think is important! If you do not teach your children to be orderly and tidy, they will surely struggle as they leave the nest and prepare their own homes. Teaching your children to tidy up after themselves, keep their rooms clean, put their laundry away, do the dishes, prepare meals, help with outside gardening chores, is a life skill that cannot be skipped.  “A place for everything and everything in it’s place.”

 

3. It teaches your children the value of work and the results of a good labour. How will they learn to hold jobs, keep an interest in studying in future years or work on the mission field if they cannot weed a garden or clean their room without complaining? Take a short term missions trip with your children and they will soon see things are not always served on a silver platter.

4. The Bible commands it. Proverbs 12:11 says “He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread: but he that followeth vain persons is void of understanding.” Proverbs 12:24 warns against laziness, and Proverbs 14:23 says: “In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury {poverty}.” There are so many verses warning about idleness and laziness and the blessings of hard work and toil. You would be foolish to ignore such verses.

5. This one was added by my 13 year old daughter: Chores are fun! Yes, she actually said that. I was writing out this post and she came to read it over my shoulder. I asked her what I should add and she said “It’s fun! I like cleaning up!” Proof enough? Train while young. Personally, I enjoy doing chores, as well. There is satisfaction in a clean home, an organized closet or a tidy garden. Some are more enjoyable than others, but you can turn on some encouraging music and provide some little cleaning baskets to help the children be inspired to dust their rooms, wash down their windows, wipe baseboards and more. We actually do not find the house work to be “hard labour” compared to the outdoor work.

{Now, please do not think my home is clean and tidy all the time – real life happens here and a messy life it is at times! We work in spots and move to another area, so sometimes one area is clean but the other area is not. We have our areas that tend to get messier than others (closets – ahem), but we do work on cleaning them up.}

I have had some people ask me how and what do for a chore system for the children. I basically followed my mother’s example. No fancy bells or whistles – just a simple spreadsheet from Excel with chores assigned to each girl on a daily basis, alternating for the day of the week.

And yes, it is posted on the side of my fridge.

Since this post is so long, I will split this between a few entries so as not to ramble on too long. I will include more specific chores that my children do in the next entry and how to keep it fun and regular.

For now, enjoy your day with your children – working away beside you at some of the household chores.

 

May 13, 2017 - 8:28 am

Chrissy So sweet these pictures! Our kids have always had chores too. They are such helpers to me. Waiting for more entries….excitedly.

May 11, 2017 - 10:37 am

Gigi So glad they could help out! 🙂

May 10, 2017 - 7:07 pm

Brenda (Gigi’s Mom) PS They were very busy bees and I only had 2 of the girls!!! LOL

May 10, 2017 - 7:06 pm

Brenda (Gigi’s Mom) Well, I was totally blessed last weekend when Lucia and Lyla came by and they wanted (insisted) to help clean the “new” Victorian House! Lyla insisted on dusting all the light fixtures and mopping all the floors and Lucia wanted to clean the staircase and vacuum!! There was nothing for me to do! LOL You have done a great job of helping them to understand the blessings of cleaning! Love Gramma Marshie xoxo

May 9, 2017 - 4:06 pm

Gigi Yes, I understand. I love to meet and talk with other moms of many to see how they manage, as well. I can say this – yes, they do read at night, unless we go to bed exhausted (sometimes that happens in the summer months). The older girls are on one side and they stay up and share the light, while the little girls go to sleep. We read/do devotions in the evening until 8 p.m./8:30 and then the little girls’ light is out. Big girls can read for a while. In the winter, we tend to retire to sleep earlier so the little ones are in bed usually by 8 with all stories done and read. The spring/summer months are a later bedtime routine.

May 9, 2017 - 12:50 pm

Our Home of Many Blessings Oh and when you homeschool,how long,your breaks,routines,etc.do you summer break or go year around.Basically what your weeks look like at a glance and how you run your daily subjects.Also now that you have a teenager how do you do chores with her?and an off the wall question…when do you put your kids to bed and do you let them read with a light on even though they share a room?Basically being nosy here and so curious how another large family mama does things!

May 9, 2017 - 12:39 pm

Our Home of Many Blessings Great! I’ve been patiently waiting for a housecleaning post or two from you!!!Your daily routines and kid chores and such. So excited!