How to Get Your Kids to Do Their Chores (& Stop Believing in Chore Fairies)

If there’s anything that can sabotage a family’s togetherness mojo, it’s chores - or more accurately, it’s a mom trying to do all the chores and not letting the rest of her family lift a finger.

A mom whose kids end up believing that all their dishes, toilets, clothes, and floors are magically cleaned by chore fairies while they sleep.

(Don’t ask me how I know - I just know.)

So a lot of us moms have a few tricks up our sleeves to get our kids to do their fair share of the work around the house - and to help them stop believing in chore fairies.

We know it’s good for them - and it’s good for us, too, so we spend loads of time on things like:

• Chore charts

• Incentives

• Delayed screen time

• Good habits

But every mom knows it’s HARD WORK to put these systems into place.

A lot of times, it’s so much easier to just send everyone on their way and do it all ourselves.

Or at least sometimes we think it is.

Some of us even convince ourselves we LIKE doing the dishes every night because it gives us a chance to listen to our favorite audiobooks in peace.

Or, we tell ourselves it’s an honor to be the martyr of our families by doing all their dirty work.

(Again, don’t ask me how I know that one either.)

But doing it all ourselves can be a recipe for a family togetherness disaster.

And can cause you to be the mom cleaning her son’s college dorm room in a few years because he hasn’t a clue how to do it himself.

Yuck.

That’s why I now know that if we want our kids to do their chores, we must do chores WITH them.

Not for them.

Not cleaning up after them.

Not correcting their every attempt.

We’ve gotta do those chores together.

And that’s exactly what I’m talking about in this week’s short and sweet video togetherness tip.

I hope you love it - and I hope it makes your weekend (or mid-week) chores a family togetherness win for the whole family.

Do you have a secret for getting kids to do their chores?

Hop into the email group and chat about it with us. I’d love to hear and share your strategies, too!