Avoid the Chore War with Your Kids

Do you require your children to do chores? Many parents don’t bother. They’ve decided it’s easier to do the work themselves. That’s especially true if the kids fight the idea of helping out around the house and getting them involved becomes a chore all its own.

My wife and I have had moments ourselves where we wondered if it was worth all the trouble. But we never entertain the idea for long. As parents of two young, maturing boys, we’ve identified household chores as one of the most obvious and important opportunities they have to prepare for adulthood.

Two of our guests on today’s program, Dr. Greg Smalley and his wife Erin, agree. Along with my wife Jean, we discussed why household chores may be one of the most overlooked areas for maturation in children.

For younger kids, simple tasks like picking up toys or making their bed can be an ideal way to build self-confidence. When a toddler successfully completes small jobs they’re given, they feel good about themselves, and they’ll want to take on even bigger challenges. That’s a quality they’ll need in abundance as they move through their elementary school years.

If you have an older child, you’ve probably encountered a different scenario. As children move through adolescence, the more helping mom and dad around the house loses its luster. But parents shouldn’t give in to a child’s complaining too quickly. Emptying a dishwasher may seem insignificant, but even mundane tasks can help teens develop the maturity they’ll need as adults to do what needs to be done.

If smoothing out some of the problems associated with chores around the house is a goal you’d like to achieve in 2016, “Avoiding the Chore War with Your Kids,” is for you. Listen online or via our free, downloadable mobile phone app. Chores can help children learn how to take responsibility for a series of tasks and see each one through to completion. And that’s a skill they’ll lean on their entire life.