Today I have partnered with Hannah Tong to bring you this post. This post is written by Hannah.
Here,
we’ll explain why doing house chores helps children become more successful in
the future. Some parents think that children should be free from responsibility
until they near adulthood, but this is a mistaken idea.
A
romanticized view of childhood, usually from fiction, portrays chores as an
unwelcome aspect of a child’s life, and it’s understandable if parents want to
protect their children from this. On the contrary, we know that responsibility
for age-appropriate chores is an essential part of your child’s development,
and we’ll be explaining why in this article.
In
short, children who do chores develop good habits that will help them
throughout life, they’ll develop essential self-esteem by contributing, and
they will learn essential life skills.
Post Contents
How Does Doing Chores Teach Children Good Habits?
The
most obvious lifetime habit that a child will learn from doing chores is a work
ethic; the habit of doing what needs to be done, rather than shirking. This
does not develop automatically; children need to learn this.
They
also learn persistence from doing chores. Nobody is born knowing how to do
housework, and children can be expected to do it poorly when they’re first
learning how.
When
you encourage them to correct the mistakes that they’re bound to make, until
the job is done to reasonable standards is how children learn to be persistent.
This will also instill an appreciation of a job well done, as they learn to
take pride in the accomplishment.
Do
keep your expectations realistic, though. A four-year-old who is helping you to
fold laundry can’t be expected to fold fitted sheets without a wrinkle.
They
could well fold the t-shirts and match the socks while you’re folding the sheets.
It’s okay to give them chores that challenge them, as long as they’re within
their ability to do well.
Accepting
the responsibility to do a chore like setting the table for dinner is how
children develop the habit of being responsible. This doesn’t happen
overnight for anyone, but the earlier the lesson starts; the better they’ll
learn it before they are adults, and responsibility become essential.
By
doing chores when they need to be done instead of playing or watching TV, kids
learn to delay gratification, another habit that will be valuable to them as
adults. This is often a challenging skill to learn, so an early start will help
them develop it.
Children
are naturally going to want what they want when they want it. They have to
learn about delayed gratification, so try to be patient with them as they
develop this habit.
Does Doing Chores Build Self-Esteem?
Toddlers
usually want to help, often with tasks that they simply don’t have the physical
skills to accomplish. This is a typical stage of your child’s development, and
you should expect it.
This
is both a challenge and an opportunity. Of course, if you do the chore
yourself, it’ll be done quickly and well, so it’s almost automatic to turn down
their offer to help.
Accepting
their offer, on the other hand, is an opportunity to teach your child some of
the skills that are needed for the chore. It takes longer this way, and their
early efforts may not meet your usual standards, but this is how children
learn.
There
are several payoffs from you taking the extra time to teach your child how to
do a chore or even part of it.
• Your child gets accustomed to helping
around the house while they are eager to.
• Your
child learns how to do the chore or at least part of it.
• Play can happen in the context of the
chore. Chores are more fun to a team.
• By contributing, your child accomplishes
something that they can feel pride in. It’s a thing that they can give back to
their family.
• Learning a skill gives every child a sense
of accomplishment, but a skill that benefits the whole family is something that
they will value even more.
Contrary
to the popular myth, self-esteem is not built by being praised by others.
Self-esteem grows when someone sees themselves do something that is worthy of
the praise.
Participation
trophies don’t fool children. They know that recognition is only valid if
they’ve done something that deserves recognition.
Be
sure to recognize the value of the housework that your children do, and their
self-esteem will grow naturally. A child who knows that they’re competent is a
child who will find it easier to be self-confident.
What Life Skills Do Children Learn From Chores?
First
and foremost, they learn how to do those chores. When a first-year college
student turns a load of laundry pink the first time they do their laundry, it’s
a safe bet that they never had laundry as a childhood chore.
There
are thousands of small tasks to do in adult life, and many of us had to learn
them as adults because we weren’t taught them as childhood chores. Give your
children the benefit of your experience and let them get practice while they
can ask questions if they need to.
Home
Economics is often not taught in school until High School, and there are a lot
of housekeeping skills that they don’t teach, even if your child takes those
classes. You can teach your child those skills, get some of your workload taken
off of your shoulders, and encourage your child’s development by giving your
child some chores.
It’s Part of Parenting
Teaching
your children how to do household chores and doing those chores their
responsibility is a major component of the parenting process. It teaches them
several admirable character traits, while they learn life skills.
Skills
are only developed through practice. Doing a chore on a regular basis teaches
children skills that will help them be adults before they become old enough to
go out into the world on their own.
We
hope that now you understand why doing house chores helps children become more
successful in the future.
Hannah
Tong is the founder of Omaby.com, a blog dedicated to providing
accurate advice to mothers regarding childcare. She loves taking care of her
kids and teaching them the right things. She is also enthusiastic and loves
sharing her experiences to teach others about how to care for their families’
health. Check the latest article (When To Start Stage 2 Baby Food?)
here.