One thing that often seems to overwhelm mothers of young children is how much extra housework they create. It's not just the endless washing - the amount of clothing gone through in a day seems to be inversely proportional to the age of a child - it's also the muddy footprints and the toys (and the rest) scattered almost at random around the house.
Children can and should help around the house. It's a matter of preference whether they get paid pocket money for this (after all, you don't get paid to tidy and vacuum, but this can be a child's first experience of working for pay). But, at least according to some early childhood educators, giving a child household teaches responsibility and helps their self-esteem because they know that they are making a valuable contribution to the household - their efforts count. Although, to judge from the protests I get when asking for a job to be done, my ten-year-old boy doesn't seem to have heard this last point.
The chores given to a child should be appropriate for their age. A teenager is capable of handling most household chores except, perhaps, DIY maintenance type jobs. Teenagers should certainly be responsible for their own washing, especially after puberty. A toddler, on the other hand, is still just learning how to do things. The following list may give you some rough ideas of what's appropriate for what age - but without any guarantees that the child in question will actually do the job!
Preschool:
- Matching socks and sorting laundry. Apparently, this is also good for learning basic maths concepts as well as a useful job.
-Putting their own toys back in the right boxes. Make sure that each sort of toy has its own container and be prepared for some muddle-ups.
-Basic pet care - filling up water dishes, giving dry food. Don't let a toddler feed fish, though, as a good-natured toddler is inclined to be generous. Also avoid meat or wet cat food at this age, as a small child will probably try to taste the food (birdseed, rabbit food and even dry cat biscuits won't do them any harm).
-Laying the table. Don't expect a formal place setting, but everyone will end up with one knife and one fork, even if they're on the wrong sides of the plate. Also supposed to be good for maths.
Starting school to about ten:
All the preschool jobs, but done to a better standard.
-Basic bedmaking not from scratch, but pulling up the covers neatly and tucking things back in.
-More advanced pet care, e.g. grooming, cleaning cages, feeding meat.
-Watering the garden
-Emptying kitchen scraps into the compost bucket
-Putting clothes into drawers (they won't be folded, but they should be in the right drawer)
-Food preparation - washing vegetables, shelling peas, even cutting up and grating. Operating a blender is quite fun to do, as is bashing meat with a tenderizing hammer.
-Bagging up waste paper for recycling.
-Using the brush to scrub out the toilet
-Vacuuming - you should plug it in, though.
-Basic house cleaning - dusting for example
With all children's jobs, don't expect miracles of neatness. Jobs take time to learn to do properly, and perfection only comes with practice.
