10 Jobs you can Delegate to your Kids
I joke around that I secretly have 6 kids because I don’t want to do all the housework by myself. Well that may not be true, I do expect my kids to pitch in around the house. Oddly enough, I’ve had people tell me it’s selfish of me to have more than 2 kids because they’ll have to do chores. My first response to that is, when did chores become a bad thing?
Work is a part of life and an important one at that. Everyone has to learn to work at some point, whether it’s willingly or they are kicking and screaming along the way. Work is an essential part of happiness though and that’s a strange concept for a child to understand. I put my kids to work as soon as they can walk and they quickly learn that work is not optional in our family. Most days they even do it willingly. Most days, certainly not all.
As a mom, being able to delegate tasks to my kids is the only way I have any hope of keeping up with everything that needs to get done. They make messes faster than I can ever possibly clean them up but fortunately, they are pretty quick and cleaning them up when they want to as well.
My grandma gave me some advice when I got married. She said, “if there is a job you don’t want to do in the house, don’t do it. Not even once.” I have a few jobs like that at my house and I don’t do them. Not even once. My kids have these chores assigned to them and they know that if they don’t do it, I’m not going to step in and do it for them. That serves two purposes. One, I don’t have to do the jobs I don’t like/don’t have time for. Two, my kids learn to take responsibility for something because it’s obvious when they haven’t done their chore.
Here are 10 jobs that you can delegate to your kids:
Taking out the trash. I loath this job. The day I discovered my oldest son was not only capable of taking out the trash but actually prefers it to many of the other jobs around the house was a happy day around here. He collects the trash in the house and takes it all out to the trash can, including the kitchen trash once a day. Delegating this one task saves me so much time and keeps our house cleaner.
Unloading the dishwasher. My kids hate doing the dishes but they don’t mind unloading the dishwasher. This works fine for me because I don’t mind doing the dishes (prefer it actually since I know the dishes will be clean enough I’ll actually want to eat off of them) but I find that unloading the dishwasher is tedious. My kids have taken over this chore and everyone is happy.
Picking up toys. If I didn’t play with them, I don’t clean them up. My kids learn early on that they are responsible for picking up their own things. Even my 2 year old knows she isn’t going to be allowed to get out more toys if she hasn’t cleaned up the ones she already played with.
Sweeping the floor. Do you have any idea how quickly several kids can sweep a floor when they get to work? It’s way faster than I can do it. We bought several small hand brooms from Ikea so even my 2 year old can get in on that action. After every meal my kids know they are in charge of sweeping the floor. This cuts down on sloppy eaters too because they know they’ll be the ones cleaning up anything they drop.
Clearing the kitchen table. I think the kitchen table just attracts stuff. Ours is always covered in everything from books to random plates of food that no one claims. Before and after every meal, my kids are in charge of clearing the table.
Cleaning their bedrooms. I have a hard enough time keeping my own room clean (why does everything end up in there?!). I certainly don’t have time to keep my kids’ rooms clean. If they want a clean room, it’s up to them to clean it. I don’t pressure them too much on this one. If they want it clean they’ll clean it. If they don’t, I’ll just shut the door so I don’t have to see the mess but they can’t have friends over if they don’t have a clean room to play in.
Wiping the bathroom counter. We’re slacking a bit on this at the moment since we’re still in the process of unpacking from our move but I keep a pack of disinfectant wipes in the bathroom and every morning my kids are in charge of wiping their bathroom counter down. This gets rid of all that gross toothpaste that my kids like to spit into the sink (and on the sink . . . and on the counter . . . and on the mirror).
Putting away laundry. My kids are still fairly young so I do all the laundry (but they can expect that to change once they hit the teen years) but they are in charge of putting their own clothes away. I’ll often fold all the clothes and sort them into piles so they just have to put them in the drawers. That saves me from running all over the house putting stuff away. When I’m busy I’ll just drop the laundry basket down and have them fish out all their own clothes.
Checking the mail. My kids love to check the mail so this is an easy one to pass off. Be sure your kids are old enough to handle this job, especially since mailboxes are usually up near the street. My older kids practice crossing the street to get our mail and I supervise from the front porch. This one doesn’t save me a lot of time, but like so many other chores, it trains my kids to take on more responsibility when they are older.
Cleaning up the backyard. My kids are in charge of keeping the backyard tidy and cleared of trash. They hose off our picnic table, throw away any trash they’ve left out or that has blown into the yard, and keep the outdoor toys lined up neatly. They see an immediate benefit to this one since they spend so much time outside and keeping it clean gives them a nice place to play.
Download our Free Chore Chart
Need some help getting your kids to help out around the house? Grab our FREE printable chore chart and get some tips for encouraging your kids to do chores.
What chores do you delegate to your kids? Which ones do you wish you could?
