{"id":502,"date":"2011-09-21T13:23:50","date_gmt":"2011-09-21T17:23:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/dadequate\/?p=502"},"modified":"2011-09-21T13:23:50","modified_gmt":"2011-09-21T17:23:50","slug":"kids-and-chores","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dadequate\/2011\/09\/kids-and-chores.html","title":{"rendered":"Kids and Chores"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’re of the firm belief<\/strong> that it’s important to teach kids \u2014 while they’re kids \u2014 about how the real world works. In the real world, people just don’t give you money for nothing. You have to earn it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>So we don’t give our kids a free monthly allowance. They get paid upon completing their chores, some of which are mandatory and some of which are optional. We don’t have a minimum or maximum amount they can earn. If they do more of their chores, they get paid more. If they don’t do anything, they don’t make any money that week. They are also responsible for keeping track by checking off a weekly list on the fridge after completing a task. If they forget to note it, they lose out. Pretty simple system, based entirely on them being responsible for themselves, taking initiative to do things that need to be done, and earning their own income.<\/p>\n

When I was a kid, my chores included taking out the trash, making my own lunch for school, and cleaning up the dog’s poop in the backyard. My kids’ chores aren’t much different…<\/p>\n

Daughter, 6th grade:<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Set the table for dinner (daily)
\n\u2022 Feed Daisy (alternating days with her brother)
\n\u2022 Help with dinner (optional)
\n\u2022 Laundry (fold and put up your own clothes)
\n\u2022 Empty the dishwasher (optional)
\n\u2022 Empty trash (as needed, at least once a week)
\n\u2022 Miscellaneous cleaning (optional, as needed or assigned)
\n\u2022 Practice piano (daily)<\/p>\n

Son, 3rd grade:<\/strong>
\n\u2022 Make bed (daily)
\n\u2022 Clear the table after dinner (daily)
\n\u2022 Feed Daisy (alternating days with his sister)
\n\u2022 Help clean garage\/patio (optional)
\n\u2022 Laundry (fold and put up your own clothes)
\n\u2022 Empty the dishwasher (optional)
\n\u2022 Empty trash (as needed, at least once a week)
\n\u2022 Miscellaneous cleaning (optional, as needed or assigned)
\n\u2022 Practice piano (daily)<\/p>\n

These chore charts change occasionally.<\/strong> There are some chores \u2014 like my son’s “Make the bed” \u2014 that are really just expected behaviors. We introduce the behavior first by making it a chore. Once it becomes a habit, we remove it from the chore chart but expect the kid to continue doing it. Stuff like brush your teeth<\/em> or take your plate to the sink after dinner<\/em> started as chores but are now things we expect them to do and won’t pay them for. The kids are aware of this arrangement and don’t complain when we remove things from the list. (And when we remove something, we always replace it with another money-making option.)<\/p>\n

Anyway, that’s how we roll. What about you? How do you handle chores and\/or allowance for kids? And what kinds of things are on your kids’ charts?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We’re of the firm belief that it’s important to teach kids \u2014 while they’re kids \u2014 about how the real world works. In the real world, people just don’t give you money for nothing. You have to earn it. So we don’t give our kids a free monthly allowance. They get paid upon completing their…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,30,15],"tags":[334,333,336,335],"class_list":["post-502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conversations","category-how-we-roll","category-questions","tag-allowance","tag-chores","tag-finances","tag-responsibility"],"yoast_head":"\nKids and Chores - Dadequate<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dadequate\/2011\/09\/kids-and-chores.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kids and Chores - Dadequate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We’re of the firm belief that it’s important to teach kids \u2014 while they’re kids \u2014 about how the real world works. 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