
Guest blogger Heidi Girvan is a teacher, mother of 3, and creator of Happy Helperz, products aimed at helping children do chores independently.
It is so important to get our children to help out and do chores around the house! Although it is always easier for us parents to do things ourselves, it is not sending our children the right message.
I started realizing how entitled my children were becoming when my middle daughter, age 5, would berate ME for forgetting to pack HER library book for school! I had obviously taught her that packing her belongings was my job and not hers. My oldest son, age 7, would lie on the couch watching TV and ask me to pass him the remote control! I knew something had to change.
So here are my top 5 reasons our children should help out around the house:
1. Helping at home teaches children important life skills (such as doing laundry, cooking and cleaning).
2. Children who pitch in around the house become better team players, co-workers, and eventually life partners. (Thank goodness my husband grew up doing chores as he now shares the housework with me.)
3. Kids actually love to help out, as it empowers them and bolsters their self-esteem. They take pride in feeling needed and important within the family.
4. Enabling kids to do things for themselves (such as pack their own knapsack for school) fosters personal responsibility and independence.
5. When your children help out, it reduces Mommy’s work load of tedious tasks, and frees up more time for families to do the fun stuff!
* You may also want to check out this related post.
Posted On: Jul 4th, 2010 at 5:49 am
i think having your children do chores boosts their confidence as well. When you ask them to complete a job or chore it makes them feel like you trust them with something important and that you have confidence in them to take on that responsibility.
Posted On: Jul 4th, 2010 at 7:48 am
I couldn’t agree more! It gives them a great feeling of competence.
Posted On: Mar 23rd, 2011 at 2:37 am
thank you for the information, it really helped me with my homework.
also i totally agree with you.
thx
Posted On: Mar 6th, 2012 at 9:42 pm
thank you for all of this information. It was very helpful for an assignment. THANK YOU!!