3 Lists –
Reasons To Encourage Your Child To Help Out
1. It teaches them skills they will need to learn eventually
2. It teaches them to be non-lazy
3. It shows the value of working together
4. It helps them feel useful
5. Your family will be more productive
6. Your wife will have less work to do
Good Reasons For Not Encouraging Your Child To Help
1. They aren’t skilled enough to do this job right now.
2. They have school work to do. / It’s time for bed.
3. They’ve worked more hours than you today.
Bad Reasons For Not Encouraging Your Child To Help
1. I don’t feel like teaching them this skill.
They have to learn it someday, why not now?
2. They won’t do it as well as me.
Does that really matter?
3. They’ll take longer to do it than I would.
If it frees you to do other work, this is not an issue
4. I don’t want to be a slave driver.
Is the time your child spends doing schoolwork or household
less than a half of the time you spend working? If not,
this is not an issue.
5. The child really doesn’t want to.
This is a good time to teach them that sometimes you have
to do things you don’t want to do.
6. They’re being so good and quiet watching TV/playing a video game.
It’s not worth the quiet.
Responsible Father 
2 comments
Comments feed for this article
August 22, 2010 at 7:58 am
Phillip Albonetti
A reason to help out…
“6. Your wife will have less work to do”
How will your kids’ chores help your wife and not you? Is she the only one who works around your house? She cleans, cooks, washes, organizes, mows, rakes, sweeps, mops, etc. while you do nothing! Your family might have more profound problems than lazy kids if your wife is the only person your kids’ set of chores will help.
Phillip
August 25, 2010 at 11:54 pm
jamsco
Well, you know, I thought it would sound lazy and self serving to say- because you won’t have to do as much stuff.