Taking care of the home is a huge responsibility. It is even greater when you have lots of “littles” running around. By littles I mean children who are all very young. My oldest is seven and I still consider him in that category, although he would beg to differ. But, when children are young they don’t understand orderliness and cleanliness. Parents much teach these things and instill them in their hearts and minds.
As soon as my children are old enough to talk and walk, I give them small responsibilities. Some of them may include letting the dog out back in the morning, picking up blocks on the floor, and putting books back in the book basket. As they get older the chores become more complex. Such as, feeding and watering the dog, using a broom to sweep crumbs, and setting the table. The older they get, the more involved the chores become.
My husband loves to clean. He always has. He does all of the mopping and vacuuming in the house. He has recruited the help of our oldest son in this chore. Now, my son loves doing this and begs to vacuum quite often. Since he has seen my husband doing it for years, he has come to think of it as a fun job. My husband makes everything a lot more fun.
Learning to love doing chores is a little difficult as we have become a society that does not look well upon those who tend to the home as their primary role. We have housekeepers and hired maids who come once or twice a week to clean our homes. Most people I know cannot afford this luxury so we have the option of recruiting the help of our children who share the responsibility with us and lighten the load.
I use the Bible as a primary teaching source for getting my children involved in the household duties as well. When you begin training your children at a young age to take delight in helping out around the house, they will always have that in their hearts. As an example: I do NOT like doing laundry. It is my least favorite chore. At a young age, I taught my children how to bring me their laundry from their room and sort it. My laundry room is the garage. Yuck. I spend as little time out there as possible. Having them bring me the laundry is a huge help. I also had them watch me as I loaded the washer and poured in the soap. Now, they all know how to use the washer (even my 3 year old).
You see, by giving them the desire to help, it has given them joy to do their chores. I have had to stop myself many times from saying “No, I just want to get this done!” That makes them feel unworthy and not smart enough to do the task. But, by taking the time to show them how to do a chore, they are learning how to care for their own home one day. Their future wives will thank me one day!
Here are some resources to help you get started with learning to love chores with littles:
