Something which has always been really important to me is getting the kids involved with chores at home. There are so many benefits of encouraging this from a young age which I thought it might be interesting to write about.
We all pitch in
The first reason why I think it’s important for children to help with chores at home is that as parents, we have a lot to do. I want my children to grow up knowing that in order for mummy to have more time to play with them they need to help out where they can. I want our household to be a fair one where we all take on chores and it doesn’t just fall on mine or my partners shoulders all the time. The more we all pitch in, the better it is for everyone.
They learn new skills
Teaching kids to help around the house is teaching them really valuable skills that will help them later on in life. I was shocked when I started university and realised that not everyone knew how to cook for themselves or clean up after themselves. I don’t want my kids to be the ones like this when they have to face the big wide world.
They enjoy the responsibility
Kids thrive on responsibility and being taught new things. They like to feel grown up and involved with what mummy and daddy are doing. One of Darcie and Ernie’s favourite thing to do is to help me hang clothes on the rotary clothesline. From a young age they’ve seen me doing it and wanted to be involved. I’ve always encouraged them to help if they want to and now at nearly four Darcie is actually quite efficient at the job! It helps me and she enjoys it, everyone is a winner!
It’s another way of interacting with them
As a stay at home mum who also works from home, I’ve always been very aware of balancing everything. Working, playing with the children and doing all the household chores. Doing chores together definitely shouldn’t replace playing together but involving them with the jobs that you need to do means that you don’t feel as much mum guilt about doing them as they are happily taking part too. It also opens up more conversations with them that you might not have otherwise and they can learn from it all.
Those are just some of the reasons why I think it’s really good to involve the kids in household chores. I hope that 18 years down the line my children will be confident adults who know how to take care of themselves, their homes and the people who live with them. I hope they will know that everyone who lives in a house needs to pitch in and play their part. I want them to grow up aware that household chores shouldn’t just be down to the adults of the house and definitely that it shouldn’t all fall on the woman’s shoulders.
Do you involve your kids with household chores?
