Marriage

» rklbond2 - getting kids to help

Hm. As far as getting kids to help. A lot of trial and error here.
My sister likes to use chore charts posted on the refrigerator complete with stickers and rewards. That didn't work for me--or it worked with limited projects only, like certain homework assignments.
I tried to emphasize that the house belongs to everyone, we are all a family, we are all responsible, etc. and make it clear that growing up and being responsible was something to be desired, and admired.

I told my daughters that when I was in college, kids would come to class that hadn't learned to do laundry yet. Eight day old jeans have a certain smell to them. My girls were horrified. Realizations like that helped each of them learn to do their own laundry completely since they were 15 years old.
I would tell them frequently that my job was to raise adults, and this is what responsible adults do...with privileges come responsibilities, etc. Not so formal as all that sounds though! I tried to weave it in to regular conversations.

A friend of mine has a clean kitchen every night -- they have the family habit that no one leaves the kitchen after dinner until the whole thing is cleaned up. I've always admired that!

Perhaps starting in one area? The area of the household that bothers you the most? Look at your kids' strengths and build on those?

-- posted by rklbond2