Kids and Housework
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Posted by Wei Yin Wong Mar 12, 2009 |
When I was a kid, a big part of my time was spent doing homework and housework. Back where I came from, homework was a big deal. I remember doing pages after pages of writing and sums in primary school. It got a lot worse when I got to high school. There were scores of corrections to make too if there were errors in the original homework pages.
That was just one type of work. The other equally dreaded kind was housework. I was the eldest of four girls. Not surprisingly, I got the biggest chunk of housework to do too. I still vividly recall feeding my youngest sister (who is nine years my junior) her porridge and cleaning up the mess she made. Then there were also endless rounds of sweeping, mopping, wiping and laundry washing. There was no other option but to help my parents since they both worked full-time while struggling to bring us brats up.
Sure, my sisters and I whinged and complained about all the stuff we had to do. But somehow, we managed pretty well. Through household chores, we learnt a great deal about discipline, teamwork, independence and time management. No kid would brag about doing housework but I truly believe the "training" we had while we were kids actually made things a lot easier for us as we grew older and tried to make our ways in this dog eat dog world.
So I strongly advocate giving chores to kids when they are young and eager to please. Nurture kids' natural desire to help and you'll find that it's a lot easier to ask for help when they are older. For more tips and ideas related to kids and housework, check out my recent articles on the subject.
Types of Household Chores for Children
Teaching Young Children Household Chores
Getting Older Children to Do Household Chores
