Age-Appropriate Chores

This is a great article in a series from Focus On The Family's website. If you have ever wondered just what chores you should be encouraging your children to help out with these tips will help you!

Age-Appropriate Chores
Do you know which chores your child can do?

by Sheila Seifert
Focus On The Family


Other articles in series:
Overview
Age-Appropriate Chores
Trade Chores With Your Kids
Inspire Your Kids to Do Chores
My Child Won't Do His Chores
My Teen Won't Do His Chores
Next Steps / Related Information

What chores are important for your children to learn, and what are they capable of doing?
First, recognize the difference between a chore (an ongoing task that benefits the household) and a life skill (an activity that children should know how to do before living on their own, such as managing a checking account). The following list does not include life skills. It is a list of chores.
Second, remember that every child matures at a different pace. Adjust this chart to what you know about your children's skills and talents, and realize that no child should do all of the chores listed below every day.
With those two qualifiers in mind, here are some general guidelines for personal and family chores. This list is only meant as a guide and reflects the types of chores that many children in these age ranges are capable of completing:

Ages 2 and 3

Personal chores:
Assist in making their beds
Pick up playthings with your supervision

Family chores:
Take their dirty laundry to the laundry basket
Fill a pet's water and food bowls (with supervision)
Help a parent clean up spills and dirt
Dust

Ages 4 and 5
Note: This age can be trained to use a family chore chart.

Personal chores:
Get dressed with minimal parental help
Make their bed with minimal parental help
Bring their things from the car to the house

Family chores:
Set the table with supervision
Clear the table with supervision
Help a parent prepare food
Help a parent carry in the lighter groceries
Match socks in the laundry
Answer the phone with parental assistance
Be responsible for a pet's food and water bowl
Hang up towels in the bathroom
Clean floors with a dry mop

Ages 6 and 7
Note: This age can be supervised to use a family chore chart.

Personal chores:
Make their bed every day
Brush teeth
Comb hair
Choose the day's outfit and get dressed
Write thank you notes with supervision

Family chores:
Be responsible for a pet's food, water and exercise
Vacuum individual rooms
Wet mop individual rooms
Fold laundry with supervision
Put their laundry in their drawers and closets
Put away dishes from the dishwasher
Help prepare food with supervision
Empty indoor trash cans
Answer the phone with supervision

Ages 8 to 11
Note: This age benefits from using a family chore chart.

Personal chores:
Take care of personal hygiene
Keep bedroom clean
Be responsible for homework
Be responsible for belongings
Write thank you notes for gifts
Wake up using an alarm clock

Family chores:
Wash dishes
Wash the family car with supervision
Prepare a few easy meals on their own
Clean the bathroom with supervision
Rake leaves
Learn to use the washer and dryer
Put all laundry away with supervision
Take the trash can to the curb for pick up
Test smoke alarms once a month with supervision
Screen phone calls using caller ID and answer when appropriate

Ages 12 and 13

Personal chores:
Take care of personal hygiene, belongings and homework
Write invitations and thank you notes
Set their alarm clock
Maintain personal items, such as recharging batteries
Change bed sheets
Keep their rooms tidy and do a biannual deep cleaning

Family chores:
Change light bulbs
Change the vacuum bag
Dust, vacuum, clean bathrooms and do dishes
Clean mirrors
Mow the lawn with supervision
Baby sit (in most states)
Prepare an occasional family meal

Ages 14 and 15

Personal chores:
Responsible for all personal chores for ages 12 and 13
Responsible for library card and books
Family chores
Do assigned housework without prompting
Do yard work as needed
Baby sit
Prepare food — from making a grocery list and buying the items (with supervision) to serving a meal — occasionally
Wash windows with supervision

Ages 16 to 18

Personal chores:
Responsible for all personal chores for ages 14 and 15
Responsible to earn spending money
Responsible for purchasing their own clothes
Responsible for maintaining any car they drive (e.g., gas, oil changes, tire pressure, etc.)

Family chores:
Do housework as needed
Do yard work as needed
Prepare family meals — from grocery list to serving it — as needed
Deep cleaning of household appliances, such as defrosting the freezer, as needed


Would you like help creating a chore chart? Download these PDFs and get started:


Chore Chart for Youngsters
Chore Chart for Tweens

Free Summer Activity

Are you looking for something to do this summer with the kids that will not hit you too hard in the pocketbook?

Regal Cinemas has started it's free summer movies program again. Check the Regal website to see movie choices.

From the Regal website:

Selected G & PG movies start at 10AM each Tuesday and Wednesday during the festival. First-come, first-served seating is limited to theatre capacity. The Free Family Film Festival is safe, lots of fun and a great way for kids to spend a weekday morning in the summer.

Tickets for our 2009 Free Family Film Festival are exclusively available at select theatres’ box office on the day of the show.

Peanut Butter Pie

A super yummy recipe from Jennifer:

Peanut Butter Pie

9-in. oreo pie crust or graham cracker pie crust (I prefer the oreo!)
3 oz. cream cheese (softened a bit to mix)
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup powdered sugar
12 oz. whipped topping, divided
peanut butter cups, crumbled for topping

In a large mixing bowl, cream together cream cheese and peanut butter until well combined. Mix powdered sugar in and 1/2 of the whipped topping. Scoop into pie crust. Frost pie with remaining whipped topping. Spread crumbled peanut butter cups on top. Refrigerate for several hours to set. Makes 8 servings.

ENJOY!

Do YOU "coupon?"

Here is another food related post! I know we are all trying to be smart with our money these days and one of the best ways we can minimize our spending is in groceries! I have tried to cut back in this department, but admit I haven't gotten on the "coupon bandwagon" yet. Maybe between these two websites I am going to share with you, I will! And hopefully you will too!

I have copied an email that Megan sent out and wanted to share with everyone else in the group. It is in regards to the ever growing popular pastime of "couponing." I will let her email explain what she discovered.

Hello Ladies,

I went to a "couponing" class this week. It was very interesting and I learned a lot about how to "coupon" and save money on our grocery bills. I'm still trying it out but this week I went to Target and got 2 bottles of mayo, 2 bottles of Kraft BBQ sauce and 6 candy bars (Nick liked that part) for free!!! I was going to try and tell you all about it at the next play group but I just looked at her site tonight and she listed a way to get $75 of groceries for free but you have to sign up by June 5th so I thought I should share with you all. I think am going to try and check it out on Monday. Here is here site: http://www.frugallivingnw.com/, check it out and if you have questions I might be able to answer them for you or I would recommend one of her classes if you are interested in them. She says she does do classes for moms groups at churches so if there was enough interest she might do that too.

I am also putting in a link to a website called $5 dollar dinners.com. http://www.5dollardinners.com/ You may have heard about it on an episode of Rachel Ray. (http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/show/segments/view/smartest-savers-america-5-dinners/) She talks about "couponing" as well and how she can't spend more than $5 on meal that she cooks for her family of four. She has recipes and pictures of many of the dishes she prepares. She also guides you in "couponing" and menu planning. And a side note, she professes to be a Christian. How cool is that?

So grab your coupons and check out these sites!

Saturday Mornings = Pancakes

Here is the link to a fun pancake tip I found on the Rachael Ray Show website. This would be a great way to include your kids in helping make the breakfast. Also check out the "Pancake Ice-Cubes" idea. Share with the rest of us if you get a chance to try either of these ideas by leaving a comment!

http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/show/segments/view/double-duty-pancake-tip/

Tomato & Spinach Pasta Toss

This is a recipe that we really like at our house and is super easy! (Even the kids like it!) The sausage is our favorite part- it gives great flavor to the dish. Great for summertime cooking! It is from Kraftfoods.com and the link is posted at the bottom. Enjoy! Jena



Tomato & Spinach Pasta Toss



Prep Time: 5 min
Total Time: 20 min
Makes: 6 servings, 1 cup each


2 cups rotini or penne pasta, uncooked
1/2 lb. hot or mild Italian sausage, casing removed
1 pkg. (6 oz.) baby spinach leaves (7 cups)
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup KRAFT Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese
2 Tbsp. KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese


Cook pasta as directed on package.
Meanwhile, crumble meat into large deep skillet. Cook on medium-high heat 10 to 12 min. or until cooked through, stirring occasionally; drain. Add spinach and tomatoes; cook 2 min. or until spinach is wilted, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; cover to keep warm.
Drain pasta. Add to skillet along with the cheeses; toss lightly.



http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/tomato-spinach-pasta-toss-104507.aspx

Walking As Wives

The current book that we are studying, Walking As Wives, by Judy Gerry has been a wonderful study so far. We are learning about how to love our husbands which means everything from learning his likes and participating in them to making physical intimacy more of a priority in our marriages. Some of these things come naturally to us as women and others do not. And we have had some great discussion because of it!

The first few chapters have been more about ourselves as wives, being sensible and temperate. What does that mean? Well, being sensible is about our thought life, what goes on in our minds. We talked about not being mastered by our feelings and letting them control us (1 Corinthians 6:12). We also looked at 2 Corinthians 10:5 which talks about "taking every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ" and how thinking this way should enable us to live Godly lives at home and in front of others.

Then we talked about being temperate; "Exercising the self-control that is necessary to do what I know is right" as the author put it. And we discussed what it means to be "a slave to sin." (2 Peter 2:19) The bible warns us to stay clear of "certain practices and activities because they are harmful to us...His motivation is His great love for us." (again quoting the author) And she asks probing questions like, "In your marriage do you ever excuse wrong attitudes or behaviors by saying, "My husband will just have to accept it because that's just the way I am?"" Learning to be both sensible and temperate are attractive qualities that your husband will be thankful for and blessed by.

In Chapter 3 we talked about loving your husband and what that entailed. We read Song of Solomon 5:16 which says, "This is my lover, this is my friend..." And we talked about the meaning of phileo love. Phileo is "emotional in nature and cannot be commanded, but can be developed." It is also described as "fellowship love requiring enjoyable interaction through comradeship and communication." Which means we may not always feel those lovey, mushy feelings, and that it is going to take work to keep the flame of love alive.

Some practical ways we talked about showing this type of love to our husbands were:

*Going to sporting events with our husbands

*Accompanying him to his favorite stores, even if it's not where you like to shop (hardware/ electronic/sports equipment stores)

* Expressing sincere interest in how our husbands spend their time at work, making eye contact with him when he talks

* Joining him in projects around the house, "cheering" him on as he works

*Taking care of his daily needs such as making sure he has clean clothes, preparing meals that he likes, creating a home that is welcoming to him and allows him to relax

We also talked about "Loving at all times" (Proverbs 17:17) and making sure that we don't point out all of our husband's faults, only to ignore our own. (Matthew 7:1-5) "Nurturing a "phileo" relationship with our husband is often the catalyst that stirs him to become the man that God has called him to be," suggests the author. And what woman doesn't want that result? She also suggests that if we learn to love and accept our husbands as God created them that we in turn will "become women that God has called us to be."

Chapter 4, our last discussion, was on becoming "one flesh" with our husbands. We looked at a lot of scripture from Song of Solomon (or Song of Songs, whichever your bible says). We talked about who created the sexual relationship. We discovered that if God created it, then it must be good (Genesis 1:27-28, 31) and is for our enjoyment (Gen 24:67), not just procreation. However, we did also discover that in order for these things to be true we must regard the parameters around it and not go beyond the boundaries of those parameters or else we would experience harm to ourselves and others. The author reminds us that we should enjoy freedom and God's blessing in this area of our relationship with our husbands, even though Satan and many in the world have taken this gift in marriage and perverted it.

Some practical ways we talked about loving our husbands physically were:

*Wearing lingerie to bed that he likes or that is new
*Taking care of our physical appearance so that we continue to look attractive to him
*Wearing our hair that is in a style appealing to him/ clothes that are appealing to him (not constantly wearing our sweats and t-shirts!)

These things, we learned, are important not because of conceit or male chauvinism, but because God created our husbands to be visually stimulated. We can do much to help them battle the temptation they face (to look at other women with lust/desire) if we will only use the power we posses as women to remind them of where they can go to fulfill those desires! We then learned that arousing these feelings in another man is like taking advantage of him because we cannot righteously satisfy those desires. So we must be careful of how we act with other men (flirting) and what we wear around them.

We agreed that can really be a challenge when we want to look good for our husbands. I suggested that when going to church or out on a date or anywhere for that matter that you ask yourself (or even your husband), "Would this outfit cause a man to stumble? Does it allow him to focus on my face or will his eyes be drawn to other parts of my body?" This can be a difficult question to ask and still feel like you can wear "fun" and "attractive" clothes, but I think it can be done. Wearing modest clothes for others to see and then revealing yourself for your husband's enjoyment is a gift we often forget we have to give.

These lessons are restated in a fabulous book I read by Dennis and Barbara Rainey titled, "Rekindling The Romance." I have the highest of praise for this book because not only is it written in two sections, one for the husband and one for the wife, but the authors are candid and give great suggestions to an often hushed topic in Christian circles. I hope you will check it out!

http://store.familylife.com/detail.asp?id=10339&p=185308

a daughter of the King,

Jena