Do the children in your house do chores?

My eight year old daughter is really good around the house too when she wants to be. She likes to help me cook, she likes to help with the dishes but the one thing I cannot get her to do is to clean her room. Honestly, sometimes it gets in such a mess that you cannot see the floor anymore. I think the only thing you can do is use gentle encouragement and praise. Tell your son how clever and helpful he is and how you really appreciate it. I wouldn't suggest that you reward him with gifts or money for doing his chores, I think we have to teach our children the responsibility of doing 'normal' chores without reward. After all, nobody gives us parents any money for cleaning and cooking do they?

I think chores can be a good thing, especially when you have a large family. Personally I don't have any children yet and when I grew up my parents gave me little chores. They did ask for my help, but not on a standard basis. I did help washing the dishes every evening but apart from that they would just ask me whenever they felt it was neccesairy and they knew I would help out without a fuzz. When I started getting homework they would ask me less often because they believe it would be best if I could spend all my time on my homework, and I did. I allways got very good grades in high school and I am still a part time college student, still getting pretty good grades if I may say so myself. They have encouraged my learning, planning, etc. and it has worked out well.

My children do chores when I beg them. THe only thing I have come up with is to reward them. I have created a chart with different chores that have to be done, either everyday, every-other-day, once a week and so on. If they do something on the list they get a star to put by their name. At the end of the month if they have so many stars they get rewarded with something that they have been wanting. (i.e... shoes, jeans, music CD, games, or even cash) I don't see it as a bribe, I see it as rewarding them for doing a good job and helping out around the house. They seem to think that it is a great idea. But with your child being so young, maybe waiting until the end of the month is not the best way to go,, do one week at a time then move it back to every two weeks when he gets a reward/surprise.