Teaching your children how to do the chores is probably as old as time. It’s a long and ongoing tradition that, unfortunately, is beginning to halt as technology makes household chores more and more convenient. Machines that automate household tasks are now common in many houses, and kids do not know how to do things manually. But why should you put the effort to teach them household chores when there’s the technology that makes it easier for them? Here’s why.
Educational Bonding Moments.
Parents teaching their children how to do things is the fastest and most common way of imparting skills. It’s also a great emotional bonding moment. You help your kids persist through struggles, guide them through their failures, and cheer them through their success. It’s a great bonding moment that comes naturally. Of course, this applies to other aspects, such as teaching them how to fish, play sports, and more. But household chores are readily available with very few required things.
It Imparts Important Life Skills.
They will eventually grow up and move out on their own. No parent wants to have a child who doesn’t know how to take care of themselves. That’s why teaching them household chores is important: it provides life skills that they will carry well into adulthood. If they find that they’re particularly good at a certain skill, they might even see a career path in it. Many famous chefs fell in love with cooking because of their parents.
Encourages Self-discipline and Self-reliance.
It’s important to establish routines that children can carry through their adulthood. Encouraging your kids to do chores early on will make the habit almost automatic. This can give them an easier time adjusting as adults when they leave their nest. This way, they won’t have to rely on others to maintain their dorm room or apartment, and they can transition to their independent life more smoothly.
Teaches Time Management and Efficient Planning.
With chores, there’s often too much to do at a time, or each one can be quite time-consuming. There’s definitely a more efficient way to do stuff around the house, and we’ve all figured out our unique ways of saving time and energy whenever we do our own chores.
Children also learn this kind of ingenuity when tasked to do a bit of housework. They figure out quicker ways to do things, so they can finish quickly and do whatever else they want or need to do after. This skill can be carried over to other things, like which school work to do first or how they tackle their school projects.
Encouraging the Kids.
Of course, your approach as a parent should ultimately be realistic. Some household chores require professional skills- even you as an adult won’t properly accomplish them. Tasks such as cleaning air ducts, cleaning the carpets, or repairing any furniture are best left to professionals. A simple check to know whether you should teach them a household chore is if it’s something you can do yourself. If it is, then perfect.
Giving them tasks that are too difficult can sour their emotions towards doing the chores, effectively making them want to do it less. And if they fail in doing them, they might end up discouraged and not want to try again. If you want to encourage your children to learn, here are a few tips to help you.
Make It Fun.
We should introduce chores to our kids as something that can be enjoyable. It can be a way for them to be quiet and practice mindfulness, or you can also admire the accomplishment after. After all, it’s a pretty rewarding feeling knowing you’ve finished something.
Make It a Family Affair and Join Them.
A good motivation for kids to do chores is if everyone’s doing their part. Task allocation not only promotes cooperation from everyone, but it also makes keeping the house more efficient and lighter. If one person loads the dishwasher, someone has to take out the trash, and another person can clear up the table.
Include It in the Schedule.
Housework is routine work. You have to do tasks in a daily, weekly, seasonal, or yearly manner. Having a schedule, therefore, only makes sense. Especially for kids, their chores must be established this way, so their expectations for the day are set and their habits are formed better.
As parents, it’s our responsibility to prepare our kids and set them for real life. Teaching them household chores is definitely an important part of that. Yes, it makes our daily life easier, but it will make your children’s life better.
