Now, we do give them a dollar for outside work like helping their papa at the tire shop or washing a cow that are not theirs. We aren't slave drivers or uptight ha. And we do give rewards for good behavior, good grades, learning new things, going out of their way to be kind, ect. There's a even boundary of doing their 'work' because that's their responsibility and being rewarded for doing good things that weren't asked of them.
I've posted a blog entry over age appropriate chores in the past but instead of sharing a chore list that is age specific for all ages, I'm just going to share our current chores list. It'll probably change when our new house is built because there will be more work to do.
*You can find a ton of chore lists for certain ages on the internet if you're looking for ideas by age.
Because our children are so close in age their chores are identical pretty much. We just alternate who does what jobs each week.
Charlee, Andlee, and Hudson ages 5, 4, and 3 (almost 4):
-Pick up their toys
-Put dirty clothes into the laundry basket
-Stack the shoes nicely in the shoe shelf
-Help hang up clean clothes and put the folded ones away
-Feed and water the chickens and dogs
-Sweep the living room and kitchen floor
-Vacuum the bedrooms
-Help make the beds
-Dust the furniture
-Help feed the horses and cows
-Help wash and dry the show cattle
-Help/watch me pay the bills (for exposure and to establish a routine more than anything, eventually I'll teach them how to actually do it)
-Help wash dishes
-Help/watch Brian and I cook (Cooking dinner has been a couples thing since before we got married. We love to be in the kitchen together. Brian leads the show and I just do the petty work hahaha. He's the chef. I have my specialities that we all love but he's the star. Of course if he's going to be home late I make dinner alone but since we sold the chicken house that rarely happens. He's here a lot and we love it. I can't wait to get moved into our huge new kitchen and cook up a storm as a family. We designed the kitchen just for us and to have a lot of room for the kids to be involved.)
Most of these chores are things that I end up redoing after the kids aren't around to see but that's just because I'm OCD about how stuff is done. The point of chores isn't to take any of the load off of me. It's to teach the kids responsibility and what will be expected of them as adults. Honestly, I could get chores done a lot faster if I just did it myself to begin with but that's not what's important.
Brian was 28 when we met and his mom still did all of his laundry and his cleaning. She even made his doctors appointments for him. He was taught responsibility money wise and work wise but he was not raised to be a grown single man who could do a women's job himself, aside from being a bomb cook ha.
I want my son/sons to know how to take care of themselves without the help of a women and I want our daughters to know how to take care of themselves without the help of a man. My son(s) will know how to clean, cook, do laundry, make their own appointments, ect. My girls will know how to shoot a gun, change a flat, work a cow, ect. Gender roles aren't my thing. I want to have independent kids who don't need someone else to do shit for them. I baby them too much as it is so the least that I can do is to raise them not to rely on someone. They'll always be my babies and I'll always be here to help/offer advice but I don't want them to depend on me to do a job for them that they can do for themselves when they are adults.
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