One of the best things any parent can do for their children is support their independence. This will not only help the family at home, but also teach them all-important practical skills they’ll need when they grow up.
In some cases, parents motivate their kids with money. However, this can become comically expensive. Case in point, redditor u/Baileythenerd recently amused the r/MaliciousCompliance online community with a tale from their childhood about how their help doing the laundry netted them a jaw-dropping $200. Scroll down for the brilliant story, as well as other people’s priceless reactions.
(Bored Panda contacted u/Baileythenerd, and they were kind enough to share their thoughts with us on the advantages of parents teaching their kids to do chores from early on. You’ll find their insights below.)
It’s a wonderful idea to include your kids in housework from an early age because it teaches them valuable life skills
Image credits: ADDICTIVE_STOCK / Envato Elements (not the actual photo)
One internet user shared how their parents motivated them to help with the laundry by promising them all the money found in the dryer
Image credits: LightFieldStudios / Envato Elements (not the actual photo)
Image credits: annann_9 / Envato Elements (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Baileythenerd
According to the person behind the story, helping out at home from an early age builds a mindset focused on growth and self-sufficiency
Bored Panda got in touch with the author of the story, and we were curious to hear their take on whether children who never learn to help with chores end up at a disadvantage when they eventually grow up.
According to u/Baileythenerd, in these scenarios, the kids would have a harder time in the future.
“It is to the benefit of both the child and the parent to involve them with daily chores and tasks,” the OP said, sharing their thoughts with us.
“The value of this goes beyond the individual skills the child learns; it also impresses three very important mindsets/ideas in individuals,” they said.
First of all, u/Baileythenerd stressed that teaching kids to tackle chores from early on impresses upon them that “no daily task is beneath anyone to do.”
Next, they pointed out that parents teach their children that the necessary skills can and must be learned. “As children, it’s easy to assume the adults around you were just born knowing how to do the tasks they do every day,” the author told Bored Panda.
Lastly, this approach also supports self-sufficiency and independence. “Eventually, going out on your own is terrifying,” u/Baileythenerd said. “Even more so when you realize that you don’t know how to do many of the things that need to happen in any household.”
Image credits: cottonbro studio / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Learning how to do various chores early on prepares kids for adulthood
Many of us probably wish that we had developed healthier habits and learned practical skills from an earlier age. For some of us, that might mean regular exercise and eating a nutritious diet. For others, it’s learning to cook and clean at home.
While it’s never too late to learn something new or to change your life, it takes a while for the habit to become automatic. Though all our brains are capable of change through neuroplasticity, it’s easier to learn new behaviors when we’re young and have someone guiding and motivating us.
The reality is that it can take a vastly different amount of time to form a habit, depending on the type and complexity of the activity. As Verywell Mind points out, it can take anywhere from 18 to a whopping 254 days to form a new habit. The average, however, is around 66 days for a behavior to become automatic.
Let’s be real, though, developing some habits can be a huge pain. Especially if we find them deeply unpleasant. Some people hate vacuuming. Others think doing the dishes is worse than all the other housework put together.
If we don’t have strong internal motivators (e.g., keeping a clean home or taking pride in helping our loved ones), we need to rely on external ones.
Naturally, it gets easier for us to do the chores we have to do if someone pays us or rewards us in some other way, like by praising us. However, money should not be the only reason we do these things.
Image credits: Karolina Grabowska / Pexels (not the actual photo)
How children ought to be rewarded for helping with the housework might vary from family to family
So it’s vital that parents talk to their kids about why their help is so important. It’s essential that they grasp that they’re helping out for reasons that go beyond the financial. There’s a lesson to be learned here about being independent, pulling one’s own weight, fulfilling promises, and doing tasks from start to finish.
As reported by The Washington Post, some experts believe that chores should not be connected to kids’ allowances at all.
However, the Preferred Medical Group notes that cash rewards are fine, so long as they’re reasonable and age-appropriate. The more difficult the task, the higher the reward. However, mundane tasks should not be overvalued.
The rewards that work best will vary from family to family and child to child. Some kids prefer getting compliments for all their hard work. Others enjoy the freedom to do what they want after they finish their chores. Still, others prefer getting a tangible reward, whether it’s cash or a small gift.
Meanwhile, Bright Horizons suggests that parents try to involve the entire family in the chores to show the kids that everyone’s actively participating. It also helps when everyone tries to make housework fun in some way, rather than a dreary activity they’re forced to do.
In our experience, dividing chores according to personal preferences is a good way to address who does what. We don’t mind doing some chores. Some of them are even soothing and meditative.
So when we focus on those instead of the ones that we loathe, it’s less of a drag. However, if there are chores that everyone in the household hates with a fiery passion, it might be best to set up a timetable and divide them equally among household members. Unless… there’s a large reward involved?
The author of the viral story clarified a few things in the comments
Here’s what some other internet users had to say after reading the post. Some even shared their similar experiences
