10 Child Friendly Chores that will Give you your Life Back

One of the most frustrating things about becoming a stay-at-home mom, has been the assumption that I am just going to clean all the time.

This doesn’t come just the people in my house. It has come from friends, acquaintances, family members, and the general media. I mean, I am home with kids all day. My house should be spotless. Right?

Problem is, being a stay-at-home mom, I feel I now work WAY more than I ever did when I actually was in the 9-5 world. Running a business from home, running the kids freaking everywhere, weekend activities, school schedules and more leave me running ragged.

Don’t even get me started on “self-care”. I mean, who has time for that?

Only one day mama’s, I woke up and realized something.

While society has the idea that I am supposed to be keeping my house spotless as a stay-at-home mom, this does not have to be my burden alone.

My children have the ability to help with daily chores, and quite honestly, they need to be helping. They are helping to make the messes, they can help to clean them up! But what child friendly chores are actually suited for my kids to be able to take over?

Folding Laundry

Mama’s, it may not be done to your standard of perfection, but folding laundry is one of the easiest chores to give up. (Which is a great thing because I HATE IT!)

Starting around age 3, your kiddos can begin helping with the folding by taking over the loads of towels you have to wash.

By 10, your kids can honestly be folding/hanging up the majority of the clothes being cleaned. Just think, you could actually take a bath BY YOURSELF in the time it would save you!

Feeding Pets

Dogs, cats, fish. All of them need to be fed.
Okay, so the reality is this chore really only takes you 2-3 minutes tops per day. But allowing your kids to take this chore over for you not only teaches them responsibility but lets you finish your coffee BEFORE it gets cold!
Winning!

Dishwasher Duty

My 10-year-old despises me most days for it, but I was so excited to give up the dishes to her.
Loading the dishwasher is a chore that takes her approximately 3 times the length of time it takes me, but while she is doing it, I am able to get dinner started, or the kitchen cleaned up.
And honestly, this child friendly chore hasn’t killed her yet, so it will continue to be hers until her brother is old enough to do more than help.

Taking out the Trash

Again, this is a chore that only takes about 2-3 minutes to be completed, but having those 2-3 minutes back in your schedule can be so satisfying!

Plus, this is an easy chore for the kids to learn to work together on.

My 4 year old gathers up the smaller, bathroom trash cans from the house. Meanwhile, my oldest grabs the kitchen trash and they take all of the garbage outside together.

Sometimes, there is harmony in this home! (Not for long though.)

Cleaning Bedrooms

I am one of those mom’s who firmly believes in my children cleaning their own spaces. You live in your bedroom, you drag the stuff out, you put it away. Therefore, my kids cleaning their bedrooms totally makes my child-friendly chores list.

Even my one year old helps to clean her own room.

Don’t get me wrong, about once a month I go in and deep clean to get rid of the funky smells, but aside from that, my kids’ rooms are their responsibilities.

Changing Sheets

Totally not a daily chore, but still one that your kids can easily help with or take over!

Changing sheets is one of those chores I dread because it means more laundry. When my kids pull their own sheets off their beds, however, and put them in the laundry room, somehow the task seems less daunting.
While taking the sheets off is totally a child-friendly chore, putting them back on generally requires some assistance from mom. The few minutes it saves me on the forefront though is totally worth it.

Setting/Clearing Table

This one is so easy, yet so great to set a day-to-day chore routine for beginners!

Both of my older kids know that it is their responsibility to get the table cleared of their settings once dinner is over. We do not do formal dinners, so my kiddos do not “set the table” so to speak, but this could easily be added in as well.

As my oldest has aged, she has also begun helping to clean up dinner after it is over. You would not believe how fast clean-up now goes at my house, giving me a few extra minutes after dinner! I mean, adding this to our list of child-friendly chores at my house has actually brought back some joy in my cooking game. Imagine that?

Cleaning Out the Car

Really, this is cleaning out the minivan (where my mom’s taxi friends at???) but you get the picture.

On any given day, if you go and open the doors to my minivan, water bottles, sippy cups, and assorted toys are likely to attack you. The fear is real.

Therefore, my kids are generally sent out about once every two weeks with a laundry basket, and a mission to bring everything back into the house that does not belong in the van. At the same, they get rid of the garbage.

They are by no means detailing my van, but at least you don’t hear toys rolling across the floor when I take corners anymore.

Vacuuming/Sweeping

One of my favorite child-friendly chores is letting the kids do the vacuuming/sweeping.

Yes, I have a great satisfaction of watching all of the dirt leave my floors when I complete this chore. (I’m weird, I admit it.) But, having laminate/wood floors downstairs, my house needs to be swept more than I would like to admit.

Thus, letting the kids use the stupid expensive Kirby Vacuum cleaner took some trust exercises, but it was so worth it in the end. Now, I can save at least an hour a week, and my kids are excited because they get to vacuum!

Packing Lunches

Okay mama’s. The one thing that probably drives me the craziest is when I have to get back up after I go to bed to pack a lunch I forgot about, just to find out the next day that my kid didn’t eat it because they “didn’t like it.”

Yep, I quit.

Therefore, now my kids pack their own lunches. They have a guideline of what they have to have, but aside from that, they choose what they pack. One sandwich, one fruit/veggie, one snack and one drink. Get that in your lunchbox and you are golden.

Plus, no more getting out of my warm bed to be disappointed the next day.

Crazy Mom Talk

Alright mama’s, so here is the thing. The child-friendly chores listed here are ones that your kids can perform but are not going to be done to your standard of perfection.

The key here is to take deep breaths and don’t lose your shit. (Trust me, it doesn’t help anyways.)

Your kids are totally learning responsibility from taking on some of these household jobs, and you are taking in those few extra minutes every day. This is the important thing to remember.

I mean, you are the one trying to gain back some of your sanity, right?

Do your kiddo’s have some child-friendly chores that didn’t make my list?

Let me know below! As mama’s we need all the help we can get.