‘Why I don’t pay my children to help with the housework’

“It’s part of life,” said the mother of three.

Help in the household

From an early age, Katie’s children contribute to the household. “I was raised that way too. It felt very natural teaching them to load the dishwasher, put their clothes in the laundry basket and hang up their coats,” Katie writes in her blog. Now that her children are a bit older, their range of tasks is growing. “My son takes out the garbage and puts the wheelie bins on the road. My daughter folds all the clean laundry and my youngest child helped unload the dishwasher until he could do it himself.”

Part of life

Katie refuses to pay her children for household chores. And even though they sometimes think it’s really unfair, Katie has her reasons for it. “It’s just a part of life and their tasks sometimes only take a few minutes a day. They don’t have to be paid for that,” she says. Moreover, according to her, you should all do the household together. “Yes, I wanted three children, but that doesn’t mean a mother does the housework on her own.”

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Different kind of reward

But there are exceptions. For example, Katie does reward her children for bigger jobs, such as taking things to the landfill or gardening. “Then I ask if there is anything special I can buy for them,” she says. “I always thank my children and tell them how much I appreciate their help. Sometimes I spoil them by buying something nice, like perfume or a pair of sneakers, even if they haven’t done a big job.” But some pocket money for their daily tasks? No, that’s not in it. “Adults don’t get paid to clean their own homes either. So basically I do what other parents do: prepare my children for the future.”

Source: Scary Mommy

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