Readers Respond: My Tween's Household Chores Are...

What household chores have you assigned to your tween and how do you get your tween to help out around the house?

A tween myself

I am a tween and I get chores from time to time but not a lot. The usual thing is my mom tells me to do something while I'm watching tv or playing a game. So I don't do it and if I just happened to be by the sink I'll wash the dishes because I'm not doing anything I find important.

—Guest hearty heart

My Child's Chores

My tween is expected to keep up on her hygiene, clean her room, make her bed, clear and wipe down the table, keep the living room clean, take out the garbage, dry and put away clean dishes, and clean the kitchen.

—Guest Amber

My teen's chores

My 15-yr-old cleans the bathroom, facebason, the dishes and her room and washes her own clothes. Sometimes I help her out with the dishes. I don't reward her for doing chores. I let her know it's part of being responsible, but I buy her movies and other stuff occasionally.

—Guest tessa john

Chore Chart

We have a Family Chore Chart, which includes the kitchen, the bathroom, and living/dining room. Between my husband and my 9-yr-old daughter somebody is always on Kitchen duty and that helps ALOT. Each room has 3 MUST do items such as when you do the kitchen you MUST sweep the floor, and start the dishwasher, etc.

—Guest Amy

Rewards

I never got paid for doing chores. Turns out, I still don't. But I like to reward myself when I get a lot accomplished around the house, even if my reward is watching 30 minutes of my favorite TV show. Since I reward myself, rewarding the kids seems like a fair balance.

—Guest Apryl

Chores for My Tween Grandchildren

When my grandchildren who are tweens stay over, they enjoy helping me cook and setting the table. They really like choosing the dishes and creating a centerpiece for the table. They also help me clear up. What they hate to do is pick up! But I make them do that anyway. I think tweens really do better with chores that have a creative aspect or let them do something independently. That doesn't mean that we should let them off the hook for the more mundane tasks.

—SusanAdcox

Chores for Tweens

As tweens, we expected our daughters to contribute to a regular routine of kitchen clean-up. One would be responsible for setting and clearing the table, while the other had to load the dishwasher and wash the dishes. We alternated weeks. We also expected them to help "as needed" - tidying up their rooms and bathroom, assisting with pet care, vacuuming, etc.

—Guest Pam

An Old-Fashioned Allowance?

Is it old-fashioned to give an allowance? That is how we have always handled getting kids to do their chores, which includes doing the dishes, setting/clearing the table, vacuuming/dusting, taking out the trash, and taking care of the dogs. With three kids, they alternated duties every day.

—FamilyCrafts

Chores Are a Work in Progress

I find that making tweens do chores is an ongoing process. Not because they resist (although sometimes they do) but because they are constantly capable of more. Once they have mastered a task, they often can graduate to a more difficult task and leave the easy jobs for the younger siblings, which of course they are not always happy about. But often things get into comfortable routines. And so sometimes as a mom I need reminding to up the ante every so often for them and teach them to do more jobs.

—LaureenBrunelli

My Tween's Chores

My tween helps wash and wax the cars, take care of the family pets (cat and 5 fish), and set and clear the dinner table. For the most part, he remembers, but I reward him with mini-chocolate bars after dinner if he finished everything he was supposed to do.

—Guest SarahZee