Helping with Household Chores
By being expected to do her share, your daughter will blossom. She will feel needed and look forward to getting busy. So help your daughter to become responsible and productive at home.
Be sure to assign a few daily chores to her from early on, such as making her bed, hanging up her clothes, and folding and putting away her laundry.
The older your daughter gets, the more she should be expected to do around the house and yard. By the time she is six or seven, she can help prepare meals, mop the floors, dust and vacuum, and sweep walkways and help collect leaves.
By age ten or eleven, there will be few household chores your girl cannot do, or at least try to. As time passes, it may turn out that she can bake better fudge brownies than you ever dreamed of or scrub a tub more efficiently than you. Praise her for tackling her chores and helping out around the house.
Alert
Do not burden your daughter by making her do all the housework. Girls who feel like they are “the maid” resent it and either do a sloppy job, come to hate housework, or develop a desire to “escape” as soon as possible, or all three.
Do not get irritated if your daughter does not do all her chores perfectly to start with, or if she needs reminding. Be patient in teaching her how to fold sheets and towels, and how to clean a mirror without streaks. Once a week discuss what needs to be changed in the chore schedule. Maybe you and your daughter can switch, or alternate, tasks neither of you likes, or delegate the toilet detail to whoever picks the shortest straw.
Running your home as a team consisting of you and your daughter may turn into a good time for everyone. A fun routine can develop that makes order out of chaos and keeps the dirt and grime under control. When your daughter leaves for college, she will thank you for having taught her the household basics, from simple meal-preps to cleaning and laundry.
Essential
Both parents should have household chores on a regular basis. You don't want your girl to grow up thinking that doing housework is a woman's job. The same goes for other tasks, such as gardening or washing the car.
If you are in the habit of giving your house an annual cleaning, be sure to involve your daughter. What a great feeling to have your home sparkling and fresh-smelling, even if just for one day. The feeling of accomplishment for both of you will soar if you treat her and yourself to something special afterward. It is fun planning what that special something will be. By teaching your daughter to help you around the house, she will soon develop that same appreciative attitude in regard to her own possessions.
