Did you have chores as a kid?

We had chores when I was little! At my dad's, that meant taking care of the horses, doing dishes, and doing the cleaning, including his laundry. His house was extreme, he didn't even cook dinner. It was basically like he wasn't there.

At my mom's, we were expected to keep our rooms clean and clean up after ourselves. On weekends, we were each assigned a room to scrub top to bottom. Bathrooms, living room or kitchen. (There were three of us, she was lucky, lol).

Most kids I grew up with didn't have chores, or they were paid obscene amounts to do chores. We didn't get a cent for doing chores- it was just expected of us.

I think a lot of parents now a days are going crazy, and forgetting to give their children responsibilities. I am pretty scared for the future!

I had a few when I was little but it was mostly just keeping my room clean and helping with stuff around the house.

I think that its great for kids to have some chores, but I think its also very important for kids to have a childhood! Part of being a kid is running around and playing in the summer and playing in the snow!

I don't think kids under a certain age (maybe 12 or so. . .depends on the kid) SHOULD be running lawn mowers or snowblowers or other types of machinery. That's just dangerous. Shoveling snow off the roof could also be dangerous, but then I spent a lot of time on roofs as a kid (for fun!) so I can't say too much about that!

Some of my friends had chores that we just didn't DO at our house, like setting the table or making their beds (I guess my parents never saw the point?). And we didn't do yardwork, because we lived on a military base, and the maintenance men took care of that. So I don't know how to compare any chores I had to what other kids had.

The kids I know now seem to have the same range of chores that my friends and I had. Some parents makes their kids do everything, which is a real copout, IMO (THEY'RE the parents, they're supposed to be responsible!). Other parents don't make their kids do anything, which isn't good either. But most kids do seem to have some chores to do.

I'm an elementary school teacher. Children today have too much time to play. They hardly have any homework. They don't do chores. They get home at 2:30 and go to bed after 9 p.m. They do little but play video games and watch TV. They hardly play outside. That's why U.S. students are so behind the rest of the world and there is a huge obesity problem with children.

When I was a child I lived in apartments. However I had to clean my room, put away my laundry, and clean the bathroom every Saturday. By the time I was 11 I had to do the dishes every night. Sometimes I had to start dinner. And there were plenty of miscellaneous stuff I had to do, too, such as run to the store. My allowance depended on me doing the chores.

Oh, and I had to clean the cat litter box, too.

And I grew up in Evanston, Laurie. Maybe it's midwest values.


Robin

Not really... We had a live-in maid and and another one who would come once a week for heavy cleaning, so there was nothing really for us to do. On Sundays, when she was off, we had to make our beds.
If we wanted any extra money aside from our allowance, then we would have to work for it, washing the cars, for example.
Our chore was to have good grades at school and do well at sports.
Boy, did I have an intensive course when I got here at 22 to live with roommates and bathrooms to clean!

We (my brother and I) had chores when we were young because we had MEAN parents. We had to help clean the house (dust, vacuum, mop), wash dishes, sort laundry and fold/hang up clean laundry, and we had to help fix meals. On top of all that, we had to help outside (rake, mow, pull weeds) and we were responsible for keeping our rooms clean to my mother's standards. She came from a military background, so that meant spotless! I was pushing a lawn mower by the time I was in 3rd grade and driving the riding lawn mower as soon as I could reach the pedals.

We didn't get an allowance for all this either. We did get paid for our grades, though. My parents believed that our "work" was to do well in school, so we were paid according to how well we worked which was reflected on our report cards.

Oh, yeah, setting the table, clearing the table, making beds, cleaning my room, etc. Forgot all that. I'm sure there were more regular chores.

We had a cleaning lady who came once a week and also did all the ironing. For the rest of my life, I've missed her. But even with her, I had a lot to do on weekends. My mother worked, though, and long hours.

I don't think it was unfair. I never minded except sometimes I wanted to do the chores on my time, and not my mother's. She always won those battles. And I hated doing the dishes right after dinner. When I was in high school, and I went out with my friends every night, I had to do the dishes before I could go. My boyfriend would be waiting at the door for me to get them done, many a night.

And I was expected to get very good grades. Also, I had ballet class 3 times a week and piano and flute lessons once a week. Besides homework, I had to practice the instruments every day.


Robin

My mom has owned her own cleaning business for ages; so she raised all of my sisters and I to keep the house tidy and there were a lot of times when we went and helped her out with her work. I never complained because I saw how hard she struggled as a single mom, and going to work with her on occassion and SEEING how hard she worked to keep other homes/businesses clean gave me respect for her in that aspect. All of my sisters and I were responsible for chores around the house when we were little, no exceptions. I have 3 older sisters and all of their children are also responsible for chores in their homes (as well as my great nieces/nephews too.). My aunt raised her family the same way. I like that responsibility in that aspect was handed down in my family a bit. Everyone keeps their homes nice and tidy and everyone pitches in as a family to work together.

I love the idea of getting paid for grades. Unfortunately my parents did not. My dad didn't accept anything that wasn't a 100%. You could get a 97%, and have the highest grade in the class, and he still wanted to know why it wasn't higher. I would have loved to have gotten money for my A's. Other kids would for a single A, where as I would have straight A's and not a cent. Not cool.

Nope, I've never had chores as a kid. My parents were really serious about my grades though, and enrolled me in all kinds of after school courses, I felt as though studying was my chore (I know, I was spoiled to see it that way, but as a kid you don't really think of the future and don't realize studying is for your own benefit, not anyone else's, and now that I'm older and I realize it I'm so grateful for the way I was raised)

I cooked a lot at home. My mom doesn't like to cook, so she was thrilled that I loved it. I don't remember how old I was when I started preparing full meals for the family, but I'd say it was my early teens.

My grandparents gave me money for grades, and it drove my parents mad!! They thought it was teaching me a bad lesson, and I had to understand that the grade itself is the reward, not anything monetary. I remember overhearing them asking my grandparents not to give me money for grade, and how I was secretly hoping my grandparents win the argument And they did...

I never did get an allowance, but within reason I got the things I asked for my parents to buy for me. They just preferred to buy me things rather than trust me to make those decisions, because I'd have spent it all on junk food, which was allowed in really limited quantities at the house.

With three girls and one boy we all had chores assigned equally. My mother grew up in a family with seven boys and two girls, and the girls were the ones who had to do all the work. She said no son of hers was ever going to be raised expecting his sisters to do everything for him. (My brother actually had to teach his wife to cook when he first got married.)

On Saturdays we each had to clean our own room plus one other room in the house. The four of us rotated through kitchen, living room, dining room, and bathrooms. Cleaning bathrooms is still my least favorite part of housekeeping. Mother did an inspection at noon. If you didn't have your cleaning done you were grounded for the weekend, and you still had to finish the cleaning before you went to bed Saturday night!

We also shared cooking and dishwashing jobs. Each evening we had one cook, one cook's helper, one dish washer, and one dish dryer.

My mother also did a lot of cooking and cleaning in between, so she definitely wasn't putting her work off on the kids.

We all pitched in with the outdoor yard work. I don't remember that being specifically assigned. My dad always did a lot of the outdoor work, but he didn't start helping with the housework until after all the kids had moved out.

We got a set allowance, which we had to learn to budget. There was no extra payment for getting good grades or doing your chores.

We had all kinds of time to play and do fun "kid" things. There were lots of kids that lived on our street and we'd get together in the afternoons after school and play in the cul-de-sac. Both my brother and I were involved in sports and we had to keep our grades up in order to play. We also were in bed on school nights by 8:30 (in elem. school), 9:00 in middle school, and 10:00 in HS.

Yes and no. Did I have a specific list of chores to do? No. Did I do what I was told to do? Yes.

I was an odd kid, though, not including my room (which I would spend days making complex scenes/sets in), I would randomly clean without being told. Sweep, mop, dust, clean the entire bathroom - I remember clamoring around on top of the counter just to be able to reach all of the bathroom mirror, I would climb around on the dining room counter to reach the cabinets above which I kept sorted. Feeding the pets, washing out their dishes, and often scooping the litter box fell to me, too. I couldn't dump the box on my own at four, but I would wash it out while an adult took the litter to the trash. I'd help fold laundry, everyone did and still does take advantage of the fact that I automatically sort and pair socks.

I blame my clean freak of a father, it ingrained into me.

I tried to help my mom cook but she didn't want me in the kitchen. I learned to cook by watching and just teaching myself.

Wow you should have called the police and reported them for breaking the child labor laws!

I didn't really have any household chores, other than to clean my room, which I never did. The only reason it got cleaned, was because a few years ago we had the whole house fixed over, and I had no choice but to clean for the people to get in there and fix the windows, and put in the a/c. Believe me all these horribly hot humid Summers without a/c in this house, motivated me to clean everything in order for them to get the a/c in my wall!

I'm sure I had to clean my room and things; but I don't really remember having too many chores till late elementary school. I was responsible for cleaning my room, cleaning my bathroom (Mom and I had a 2 bathroom trailer at that point), dusting and some vacuuming. I know I knew how to shovel; but we didn't have much of a driveway; so Mom was always out there before work clearing out where we had been plowed in and space to walk around the car.

When I was a teenager Mom had remarried and 2 of my step-siblings lived with us. We each had 2 days a week where we were responsible for the dishes, sweeping and vacuuming. It alternated which day for which chore. We all got a day off from chores; which we liked. We also helped with the shoveling (we'd all work together); we mowed the lawn and raked leaves. Plus the regular indoor cleaning stuff. Last winter when the first big blizzard hit and DH and I were evaculated to my Mother's house; somehow all but 1 of my 4 step-siblings happend to be in town and guess what...everyone was out shoveling. Just like old times. LOL It's sort of like when we go to my Gram's; we all revet to the chore we've done there since we can remember. Everything flows nicely.

ETA: There was no allowance in my house. Every now and then if Mom had a few extra dollars she would give them to me. But I didn't expect it. And no getting paid for grades either. Mom tried the "ok that was good but next time I want to see your grade higher" thing with me and it totally did not work. That is the exact way to make me NOT do something. I loose all motivation. I do better work when I feel people are pleased with me as I am, not bugging me. that is the reason there are bananas in my kitchen that could have been made into banana bread days ago; but no banana bread. Because DH keeps bugging me about them going bad. LOL

I always had more chores than I knew what to do with. Mom's a nurse, and for awhile she was a single Mom but even when she was with her ex, he was useless, so I always did pretty much ALL of the chores so that Mom would never have to when she came home from work. It was always just assumed that I would.

Back then there were few kids in my area who didn't have chores. Saturday mornings meant cleaning our rooms, doing the ironing, etc. In the summer, we were expected to mow the lawn, help out in the gardens, all kinds of stuff. We didn't get an allowance per se, but if there was something we wanted, we usually got it.

When my son was little, he was expected to make his bed and keep his room neat. As he matured, he mowed lawn and was expected to help with housework. He took on a large share of cooking meals, too, on his own......loves to cook.

Part of the obesity problem with kids today (other than having obese parents) is that they aren't expected to do chores and such. It's hard to get much exercise when they're in front of the video game, computer, or tv all the time.

The other part is fat parents that feed their children the same food choices and in inproper amounts because that's what they do, and parents that work so much that they either don't have time to cook or are not there to cook.

Snack foods, candy, and even going out to eat were things I had to earn through chores and being good.

I wasn't assigned any chore officially. Not sure why. I did vacuum but that was my own choice. I have a feeling my brother and sister (both older) were assigned chores. For the most part, I was oblivious to most things house-related.

We didn't have any assigned chores no. My mom was a single mom so I think it was easier for her to not argue with us to do chores

Well, growing up we had to do what mom told us to do. My brothers would often not listen to her and then *I* was the one that had to do whatever the list said. Used to irritate the heck out of me. Why should THEY get away without doing what they were told, only to leave me stuck with the list??

Anyway, by the time I was in high school my brothers were out of the house, and I would get home, sometimes around 4 because of after-school activities, and have a list of things such as, "Clean the kitchen. All of it. Clean the bathroom. Clean the living room." and it had to be done before she got home by 5:30. :/

My mom wasn't a single-parent, but both my parents worked (my dad worked shifts). It just annoyed me, and I had a lot of resentment when my parents would come home from work and basically mess up all that I had cleaned (not to mention just sit in front of the TV all night).

I mean, I was an honor student, graduated 4th in my class, had a HUGE load of homework every night, was active in many after-school activities and held a part-time job.

I consider chores to be more along the lines of helping around the house, not doing everything becuase your parents are too lazy or can't be bothered, which is what I grew up with.

The only thing DH and I consistently argue about is cleaning the house. He KNOWS how I grew up, and I know how he grew up, but it's something we have to work on. I refuse to treat my kids the way I felt I was treated.

I think I would have resented things less if my mom actually did some of the work (dad wouldn't let me do yard work) instead of relying on me and getting mad at me if things weren't done the way she wanted them.

Times have certainly changed.

In our family it wasn't an issue of chores so much as we did what had to be done and living on a farm there was plenty to do.

My mom had a number of illnesses when I was young so being the only girl in the family, I was responsible for running the household in my mom's absence. A typical day when I was 12 years old was getting up at 5:30 am, Dad would start the fire in the wood stove, then go milk the cows and feed the animals while I made his breakfast and made his lunch. Then when he left for work at 7 am, I would make a batch of bread, from scratch of course, which made about 4 loaves that would last 2 days so I only had to make it every second morning. After that I would have to wash the components to the cream separator. Then I would make breakfast for my 2 brothers and great-uncle who lived with us, clean up and walk to school. At recess time I came home and put the bread in the loaf pans and run back to school. At noon I made lunch for all of us, cleaned up and put the loaves of bread in the oven. My uncle would take the bread out after an hour.

After school I made dinner for everyone and cleaned up the dishes. Then I did homework and then bed. That was my typical day.

So, yes, I guess I did do chores and we got no pay or allowance. If we went to town Dad would give us a bit of money to spend but that's about it.

Yep, I had chores the entire time i lived at home. Kids are too busy in front of their computers nowadays. I had to stand on a stool to do dishes when I was a little girl because I couldn't reach the sink. I shoveled snow in the winter and cut the grass in the summer. There was an elderly neighbor who had cats and i would go over to her house and do her chores too. I thought it was unfair at times but it certainly made me into an adult that isn't lazy or afraid of hard work.