As parents it is important that we rejoice in your achievements, but so is teach them from small to collaborate in household chores.
It is essential that they assume that all family members collaborate in daily work, and that it is not about “helping mom”, but that it is everyone's business.
Although they are still small, we can begin to involve children in a gradual way in household chores.
After two years, they begin to develop the symbolic game, which consists of mimic actions that adults do in real life, so it's a great opportunity for them to start collaborating on simple tasks. They can, for example, help put clothes in the washing machine or napkins on the table, to tell you some of the things they enjoy most.
When they are older, they can help by setting and picking up the table, placing the dishes in the dishwasher, or passing a cloth. At first they may turn out to be a bit complex tasks for them, but over time they learn to do them better and better and they end up automating.
Do not forget that collaborating in household chores is a learning process, therefore we must have patience in the face of errors or that sometimes bother us more than they solve us.
We have to devote the necessary time to teach them to do the tasks, explaining how they are done and trusting that they will do well. Although sometimes they are wrong, we must be patient and not criticize them, because they will try to overcome themselves. Little by little, they can be assigned tasks of greater responsibility, always according to their possibilities and stage of growth.
Motivation is essential for children to get involved in household chores, so activate the imagination like putting stickers on the laundry baskets to classify white and colored clothes. Something that works well for me at home to order the drawers of the cabinets is to place stickers with drawings of the garments inside, or place colorful gomets on the cutlery of each family member.
Teach children to help with household chores It is an education that will serve you for the rest of your life. It is not about “making them work”, but in assuming the collaboration of community work. If we do things for them they will not learn to do them and we will be delaying the development of their abilities and diminishing their self-confidence.
On the other hand, by making them partakers of everyday tasks they will feel useful and valued as a family member.
