Comments on: The Art of Dadliness: How to Get Your Kids to Do Their Chores (And Why It’s So Important They Do Them)

By: courtney

courtney — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 05:09:24 +0000

hey if my child did all the chores above how much should she get

By: mariposadan

mariposadan — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 04:50:41 +0000

Pretty basic stuff. Don’t know too many families whos kids don’t do more than these chores. If I did I would certanly let them know.

By: TiredButHappy

TiredButHappy — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:00:24 +0000

You can also turn it into a game:

http://www.chapelhatpegs.com/how-to-get-your-kids-to-help-with-chores.html

By: Nachiekth

Nachiekth — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 20:16:48 +0000

My mom used to pay me for a lil while then it became a habit for me i used to never leave the kitchen without washing the dishes….

By: Nathan Charles

Nathan Charles — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 20:04:49 +0000

My parents had always just split the chores among my siblings and I, and despite moaning and groaning every time, and despite not getting allowance for our work, looking back I’m glad they made us do it.
I was amazed when I went to college and found that half the freshman class didn’t know how to do their laundry, or how to wash dishes by hand. I had the privilege of being a competent person living on my own, and I can thank my parents for that.
Also, despite no regular allowance, in our home my parents did do what Craig mentioned above – the more difficult tasks (fixing furniture, plumbing work, painting, etc) usually had a monetary incentive, which was a rare treat,

By: c eyermann

c eyermann — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 20:19:26 +0000

My wife and I have 16 year old triplets that have been doing chores for many years. Each of them has chores for one week that include: dishes, set dinner table, feed animals, clean litterbox, take out trash and recycle. We do not pay for their chores.
However we have a time card system that each can do non-chore tasks and record them on a time card. This could be cleaning cars, sweeping floors, vacuuming, windows, etc.
we ask that they put down the time and when they complete an hour we pay. We started at 5$ and hour when they were 10 and now pay 10$ an hour.

By: Travis

Travis — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 13:05:55 +0000

Even though I’m nowhere near ready to even think about starting a family, this is one of the biggest fears I have about raising a child.

These sound like great ideas and I look forward to maybe having the chance to try them out one day.

It seems to me though, that it might be more effective, instead of praising their work, which may lead them to believe they’re great at everything when they’re not and potentially disappointing themselves, that we should praise their effort, as well as the end result, to motivate them to strive for that result and inspire them to find more efficient means.

i.e. instead of “You did a good job emptying that dishwasher” (even though the 1 year old dropped every other dish), we might try “YAY! Now we have an empty dishwasher!” so that they have a positive association with the goal.

I also think it’s very important that children understand WHY we do anything so that they have a reason to do chores, and other things they don’t really WANT to do, so that when they move out on their own they’re not comforted by “well I don’t really NEED to clean my room, it’s not hurting anyone.”

By: Zach

Zach — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 18:16:41 +0000

These are such great articles! I do not have kids at the moment but I remember being a kid and having to do chores for free. My parents offered money to do chores after my two brothers did not want to do them for free. Once she did that, my appeal to get them done went up.. until she no longer wanted to give a reward for us doing them. After that, the house was a disaster area lol. Needless to say, I believe that giving money for chores diminishes the way little ones look at and are motivated to get things done.

Thanks again The Art Of Manliness!

By: Nick W.

Nick W. — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 17:38:07 +0000

Thanks a lot for this article. I have my first little one on the way and my wife and I have been contemplating on what to do with the chore situation. This article will definitely further our discussions.

By: Ronnie

Ronnie — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 05:31:02 +0000

Thanks a lot for this great article. This is very useful in my work as a school teacher in getting the parents to toughen their children so that they can do well in school and serve society in the future.