How to Get Your Kid or Teen to Do Their Chores

Getting your kids and teens to do chores is often harder than it should be - at least that is what we think. Our older kids and teens would prefer not to be bothered at all with chores. Who wouldn't, right? But household tasks need to get done. This issue can cause arguments and bad moods around the home more often than parents would like. Here is some advice, opinions and experiences from real parents on how to get kids and teens to do chores.

Talk to Them

Kids will be more willing and understand better the importance of structure and order in the home if it is explained to them. Many kids grow up in contempt of their parents for the strict ordering around they received, depending on how parents went about it. Tell your kids/teens why it is important to keep a clean/orderly house, make it clear to them, then explain that it is also a team effort. Parents shouldn't have to baby their kids forever, doing their chores for them just because they're parents and they're supposed to. Teens need to help and learn in doing so, but using the right tone and making them feel included can help them want to.

It's not so easy.

I had 2 teenage daughters. What I did as regards to housework from dishes to cleaning of their rooms: we had a discussion and draw up a work schedule with a name against each job and noted those we would be doing together. It worked as each member of the house knew what to do as each day passed by.

Natural Consequences

When my children were younger, we used the initiative and rewards approach. We taught that everyone does their part and that when I say do, they do. Now that we have teenagers there isn’t much of a debate on chores. It has been a part of their daily lives for such a long time. However, like most teens there are days when they just don’t want to do their work. On these occasions I do let them suffer in their own consequences. For instance my son recently decided he was not going to be cleaning his room. I simply said make sure the door is shut at all times so the mess doesn’t trickle into my hallway. After one week he couldn’t find anything, had a smell he couldn’t sleep with, and misplaced his eyeglasses, since their normal spot was occupied with trash. So between the loss of money for glasses, air freshener, a failed test (couldn’t find book)and wearing dirty laundry to a party, he now understands the importance of cleaning his room.

Share the Responsibilities

My daughter just recently became an official teenager but I have felt like the mother of one since she was four. She likes to debate also, but I tell her that debating