Doing "chores", having an allowance & more ???'s

[Linzie2]

I'm looking for serious ways to reduce my stress and workload, and also involve DD in the daily runnings of a home. She's 3.5 with (I believe) the capabilitly to have little jobs. So here are my questions:

What age did your DC begin having jobs/chores/regular things they did/took care of?

What were the jobs? (I was thinking mainly having DD take care of her own laundry. I don't fold, just have drawers for each type of clothing.)

How did you institute it? How did it go over with your DC?

Did you do allowance? Special treat/project/attention?

If you did an allowance, how was your DC allowed to spend it? (DD has a piggybank that plays a little song and she thouroughly enjoys putting money in there. I just wondered if they earned it, shouldn't they decide how to spend it? I know her $$ would just go towards candy though, LOL)

Thanks wise mamas, for your advice in advance

[DaughterOfKali]

My son (just turned 7.) He has to help around the house (pick up his toys, sweep under table, etc.)

So far, I have not given an allowance. This year, I may have him do things that are a little 'above and beyond' daily chores in order for him to earn some cash. Little things like sort the dvd's on a shelf; Clean up the bottom kitchen cupboard (non breakables); Empty the bathroom trash into the kitchen one; etc.

[monkeysmommy]

We just instituted a combination chore/behavior chart last week. We decided to start simple with chores since we have never done them before and when we didn't want her to be overwhelmed. Her list has 10 things on it. They are:
Get dressed,
Brush teeth (am)
Put dirty clothes in hamper
Put dirty dishes in sink
Do homework
Brush teeth (pm)
Follow directions
Good manners
Positive attitude
No waking parents before 6:00 am

For each thing that is completed she gets a sticker. For each sticker she earns .02. So she has an earning potential of $1.40 per week. Last week she earned a dollar and she was really happy. She can spend her allowance the way she wants. She is 7.

That's what we are doing!

[TiredX2]

We keep allowance and chores completely seperate in our home. Allowance is to help the kids learn to manage their own money *and* to provide for wants while normal chores are things everyone needs to do because they are part of a family and a household. It is *not* acceptable to us to not do the things the family needs you to do just because you don't want any extra money that week! If there are above and beyond chores, we negotiate a payment before the work.

[pianojazzgirl]

Originally Posted by TiredX2

We keep allowance and chores completely seperate in our home. Allowance is to help the kids learn to manage their own money *and* to provide for wants while normal chores are things everyone needs to do because they are part of a family and a household. It is *not* acceptable to us to not do the things the family needs you to do just because you don't want any extra money that week! If there are above and beyond chores, we negotiate a payment before the work.

We haven't started giving an allowance yet, but when we do this will be my approach as well. As for chores we are rather unorganized about them. We do ask dd to do quite a few small things throughout the day, just general helping out with whatever needs to be done ("oh here, can you take this glass to the sink", "please grab me a diaper for ds", "could you please pick up all of the legos and put them back in their box", etc.). She actually quite likes to help out. We haven't instituted any formal set of "chores" that are hers (like dd is always the one to load the dishwasher, or put away the towels or anything like that). She is 5.

[Alyantavid]

We don't do allowance.

My kids' only real chores are to make their beds, dealing with clean and dirty clothes, clean up their toys and help out around the house. They love when I give them jobs to do (emptying trash, setting the table, etc).