Chores my kids do and age-appropriate chore lists

I haven't cleaned a bathroom in over in a year. Well, not the whole thing anyway. Each girl cleans one bathroom. And since we just have a family bath and a powder room, this works. It took weeks of training, teaching, reteaching and post clean-up inspection but mostly the girls do a good job. The mirror seems to be the toughest though I can't explain why. And teaching them not to use too much cleaner, that takes a while too, but I love that the girls clean. It makes me feel like we are all in this together.

This post is a short follow up to Belinda's post on Why Kids Need Chores. I've avoided this post because even though it challenges me and encourages me to read how other families operate, I didn't want to share our routines. You might judge me. You might think: her kids do too much, her kids do too little, or worse, even though your house is organized and spotless (the opposite of mine), maybe reading about what my kids do will make you feel guilty. Oh, there are dozens of reasons I could not post this.

But, I started this blog to encourage other moms. And practical, real-life examples are my favorite way to fill my mommy-idea bag. And honesty, they say honesty endears you to your readers. I hope they are right (sometimes when I start confessing my insecurities, like I just did, I get a double whammy because now I feel silly for being insecure about this). Let's talk about chores before this gets any worse.

First, lists of age-appropriate chores always help me.  I never follow them exactly, but they encourage me that I am on the right track or that my kids can handle a chore I didn't realize they were old enough to accomplish. And sometimes there are chores I never even thought of. Here are links to some of my favorite age-appropriate lists:

• Focus on the Family's list divides chores by age and then by personal and family chores. 
• Web MD. The list of age appropraite chores is on the last page of this article, but I like the first part of the article and its explanations of how to get kids to do their chores. 
• Home-school-your-boys. So technically this blog is about girls but I love the chore lists on here. Many homeschool families can make chores and learning to care for home a daily part of their activites. Therefore their chore lists are longer and more detailed. I love how this list divides chores by age (starting at 9 months!) and then into specifc areas like: in their room, the rest of the house, in the yard, away from home, and beginning etiquette.

There are dozens of other lists out there, but looking at too many will overwhelm you before you get started.  Remember that when you first give kids a new chore, you will have to help and instruct. But you are training them for the future and perfection is not the goal. They can learn a bit at a time and someday, maybe you won't be cleaning the bathroom! 

Thanks to recent birthdays, my girls are now 8 and 10. We usually add new responibilities at the beginning of each school year. Sometimes during the crazy soccer season, I shorten the list because I want them to get enough rest. 

Morning

Make bed

Put away PJs

Get breakfast

Put away breakfast 

Brush teeth and hair

Pack backpack 

Feed pets

After school

Unpack backpack, hang it up and put all work and notes and planner on homework table

If there is a lunchbox, put next to kitchen sink

Get snack 

Clean up snack

Do homework

Before bed

Shower -every other day

Hang up towel

Put clothes away

Get out clothes for next day

Brush teeth

On Weekends

Clean all pet cages (3 of them)

Clean bathroom (older daughter cleans bigger bathroom)

Clean up room

Put away all laundry

1 or more surprise chore each weekend

The surprise chores vary according to the needs of the week and what I want to teach them. Sometimes it is yard work, sometimes mopping, sometimes harvesting from the garden, sometimes going through the marker bin and throwing out bad ones. One time they polished some silver. 

I wish I could say they had regular meal duties. Homework demands and crazy practice schedules make it tough. I feel good if we all sit down together and eat something healthy. I wish I could say they did all this every day without being reminded. We are still working on it. We grow each year. All of us. If you know a way to stop reminding them all the time, let me know!

In the future I will share our allowance philosophy and show you how we handled chores when before the girls could read.

So tell me, what do your kids do? ( I was honest, now it is your turn!)