What chores do your kids do?

What am I into today?

Well?  Remember that organizing I was all set to do yesterday?  I got some of it done.  Not all by any means, but I did make progress in my shed/studio.  I had some brainstorming ideas that I just need to put into play.  They will take time and effort, but I'm sure by the end, I'll be very happy.

Today is all about getting the kids room back in order.  Go through clothes and sort out the ones that don't fit anymore and put those aside. I also really want to make the dressers more accessible for the kids so I can tell them:  "Go find a shirt and a pair of pants for today."  I'm trying to set them up to be more responsible and make their own choices.  Audrey has already, at 2, had meltdowns because of what I chose for her to wear.  If I let her make her own choices, it would be easier.  Plus, she can almost dress herself already, so why not make it one of her 'chores' just like Austin.  :)

Speaking of chores?  What chores do your kids do?  I found a chart on 45 chores young children can do.  I'm pleased that my kids are doing most of what's on this chart for their ages.  If they aren't doing it, they are getting there.   For example:  Audrey made a mess with her water cup yesterday.  I handed her a towel and she had to clean it up.  Did she get it all?  No.  But that's not the point.  The fact is, she realized that she made a mess and then cleaned it up.  I came in behind her and finished it... but she did pretty good for 2! 

The hardest thing for me is getting the kids to put their toys away.  It takes time.  More time than I normally have the patience for to sit there and continue to encourage them to put them away.  You know what happens here?  Grandma or Mark come along and just throw everything into drawers and baskets, even if that's not where they go.  So I feel defeated that I can't teach my kids where their toys go because no one else puts them away in the right places.  Mark's idea of 'put away' is out of sight, out of mind.  So, for him.  They are put away.  For me, it's just a jumbled mess.  I've noticed that when I organize them and put them in the right places.  Less toys come out the next couple of days.  Because they can FIND what they want.  So, on my own Weekly chores chart, Organizing Toys, is something I will be doing every week now.  At least I will know that they are put away the RIGHT way, once a week.

I believe too many kids don't have chores these days.  I had chores.  And yes, I complained about them.  Put them off.  DESPISED cleaning my room. (Funny... that hasn't changed.) And yet, I agree that kids need them.  It helps to teach responsibility and how to make our house a home by all who live there. 

What about you and your family?  What chores do your kids do?