work ethic<\/a>.\u00a0 Independence, responsibility, creativity and innovation are all traits that can enhance it.<\/p>\n[Tweet “Can you really make chores fun?”]<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re concerned about getting that roll-the-eyes, \u201cyou\u2019ve got to be kidding\u201d stare from your kids when you tell them they\u2019re now responsible for taking out the trash every Wednesday, you\u2019re not alone. But instead of threatening or grounding them for six months, try this: re-frame the chore to make it fun. A little motivation never hurts and helps drive home the idea that work is worth doing well.<\/p>\n
If, for example, if one of the weekend mornings is devoted to weekly housecleaning, you could:<\/p>\n
\u00b7 Have a race \u2013 \u201cCan you finish cleaning the bathroom before I\u2019m done in the kitchen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00b7 Play a game \u2013 Set a number of points per project\u2026 Add for \u2018extra good work\u2019 and\/or \u2018no reminders needed.\u2019 Subtract for sub-par work.\u00a0 (Give a prize if you want e.g an extra bedtime story or 15 minutes later to bed for example.)<\/p>\n
\u00b7 Add music \u2013 \u201cThe first person to start Saturday morning chores gets to choose the music that we all listen to while we\u2019re working.\u201d (This is also a good way to check in on your kiddos\u2019 taste in music from time to time.)<\/p>\n
\u00b7 Make a date to do something fun when everything\u2019s done. (Give yourself \u201cbonus points\u201d if it\u2019s fun and FREE like taking a walk, or playing catch in the backyard!)<\/p>\n
Keep in mind that the important thing is that the child learns to do the task, rather than worrying about getting it perfect. Every successful adult interviewed for\u00a0What Kids Need to Succeed shared responsibilities at home, and many had jobs outside the family to earn money.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Do you want your children to think of themselves as guests in your home or as a vital, contributing part of family life? Sharing household chores is not only a way to get the work done — it can help parents teach important life skills and attitudes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,14,3,5],"tags":[67,104,153,241,377,599],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-29","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e","category-four-foundations","category-happiness","category-parenting","tag-chores","tag-discipline","tag-family-life","tag-housework","tag-parenting","tag-work"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=29"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"High](\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/File:OstrichFeatherDuster.jpg\" "\\"High")
<\/a>