Kids and Chores

In ¡§The Case Against Chores,¡¨ Jane Smiley lists several arguments in favor of requiring children to have chores at home. She says that children don¡¦t want to do the chores. To her, the pressure to put the children to work is unrelenting. I disagree with her stance and think that chores are really life lessons for children. Children who have regular assigned household chores feel a sense of self-worth and competency. They also tend to demonstrate responsibility in other aspects of their lives. These children exhibit a higher level of self-confidence and see themselves as an integral part of their family. Chores are a good way to teach responsibility to children. It is what is expected of all members of a family and also teaches them how to do things on their own when they become adults. For example, my friend had a bad time when she separated from her parents. As she was growing up, she didn't have many chores. All that was expected of her was to do the dishes after dinner and keep her room clean (which she barely did). Later when she got her own place, she discovered a few problems as a result of not learning how to do certain household tasks. One of these problems was lack of organization. As she was growing up in her

I'd set the bucket down next to him and both of us would put the toys away. By the time I was 13 I pretty much did all the vacuuming, laundry, dusting and dishes. He seemed to think it was a sort of game. He doesn't do it on his own, but all it takes is my saying, "It's time to put your toys away. I believe that having chores for him to do will help him become that person. She doesn't blame her mom and dad because they were doing their best at that time, and besides, she has learned a valuable lesson from it and that is to be sure to teach her kids how to do this stuff. She found out after a period of time that this was not going to work for her. I did these things not because they were my "job" or assigned chore, but because my mom was sick a lot and I didn't like living in a messy house. Since she grew up this way, this is how she ran her household; she didn't know any other way. ' I think chores are the perfect place to start in showing children how to be responsible. If started at an early age, I think many children will not have a problem with chores (at least not for awhile). As parents it is an important job to raise children. " and he goes right off and does just that. There are a couple of ways you can do this, but the first step is to figure out what you want each child to do.