I am so excited to share with you a new series we have been working on! Welcome to Moms Check In! Every Friday we will be posting a new topic and getting opinions from Moms. But we also REALLY want to hear your opinions! Follow us on Twitter (@MomsCheckIn) and let us know what you think (make sure you use #MomsCheckIn) and we will be tweeting them all week!

 

So who are our Moms?

Amanda (@its_a_fab_life) is the mom of one boy and owns It’s a Fabulous Life, which is a one stop place for all things ‘Mom’. You can find recipes, DIY projects, frugal living, parenting and more.

Jenni (@sweetpennies) is the mom of one boy and writes at Sweet Pennies From Haven. Sweet Pennies From Heaven is a hearth and home website that focuses on recipes, crafts and creating a comfortable home.

Lindsay (@SeeMomClick) is the mom of two great kids and owner of See Mom Click. She shares great deals, Disney happenings and recipes.

Stephanie (@spaceshipsLB) is the mom of one son and owns Spaceships and Laser Beams. Spaceships and Laser Beams is a great site full of party ideas, crafts and more all with boys in mind!

And this week out guest panelist is Katelyn (@whatsupfagans) from What’s Up Fagans? Katelyn is a young mom of three young kids – twin four year old girls and a one year old boy! She’s busy maintaining the mayhem, cleaning the house, blogging, reading books, couponing, and finding a balance to it all. She writes about simple ways you can live better, especially as a wife, mother, homemaker, and Christian.

You will want to make sure to check out all of our moms and follow along with Moms Check In on Twitter!

 

This week’s topic is all about chores. Do your children do chores?

 

I believe in chores! I really do! I honestly struggle with consistently doing chores, but we try. Josh is 11 and he makes his bed, keeps his room picked up, helps feed the pets, and to clean out his fish tank. I’m really lucky in that if I need him to do something and help me he will no questions asked. I need to be better about making it more consistent and expected.
-Amanda (@its_a_fab_life)

 

My little guy doesn’t have lots of chores at this point but he does have the responsibility of picking up his bedroom and the toys through the rest of the house. Each night we spend about 5 to 10 minutes picking up before bedtime. The older he gets, for SURE – the more chores he’ll have!
-Jenni (@sweetpennies)

 

We really don’t have a formal chore list for the kids. There are certain expectations we have of them just because they’re part of the family. So every day they’ll make their beds, clean up their rooms, and pick up their toys when they’re done playing. Then we do other things as needed, like bring their dirty laundry to the laundry room and empty their hampers into the basket to be washed. One thing I’ve done over the summer to keep us productive is to tackle a project a day. So far we’ve done things like clean out their desks, reorganize the coat closet, clean out and organize the pantry, and sort through their DVDs to see which ones we want to yard sale. They actually love it and ask me every day what our project will be! (And little by little I’m organizing the house with their help. Win!)
– Lindsay (@SeeMomClick)

 

My son, Sam, is just turning five. I’ve seen lists of chores for kids according to their ages; I could just say I’m not into child labor…but the truth is I think that is something I should pay a lot more attention to…soon. Sam does help pick up his toys at the end of the day and he puts his dirty clothes in the laundry. Since he’s my only, my mindset has pretty much been “I’m taking care of my baby” and it hasn’t seemed like a big deal to me just to buzz through and take care of things. But I do think it’s important for kids to learn responsibility and to be good stewards. I also think there is a lot of other learning going on in early childhood and so I haven’t been worried that he is lax in working around the house just yet!
-Stephanie (@SpaceshipsLB)

 

Yes and no. I fully expect my four-year olds to help with household duties and to clean up any messes they make themselves, and think they are more than capable to do regular age-appropriate chores both assisted and unassisted, but I don’t have any sort of “chore chart” for them. I don’t have a chore chart because I don’t want to have make up some sort of reward system for completed daily or weekly chores. I am trying to stay away from too much “reward” and “punishment” parenting tactics, because I don’t really want to make chores, a chore. Ideally, my children should want to clean and do chores because they understand it’s part of keeping a clean home and part of what it means to be in a family. In fact I actually prefer to clean my house while my kids are still awake and around, even if that seems counter-intuitive, because I want them to see me completing chores so they can see what goes on in maintaining a home and offer their help (which they often do). I don’t want them to be or feel entitled. So, yes, my children help me around the house daily, but no, I don’t hold them accountable to a set chore chart.
-Katelyn (@whatsupfagans)

 

What about your house? Do your children do chores? We would LOVE to hear what you have to say! Just make sure to use #MomsCheckIn with your answer! We will be featuring your answers all week on Twitter!

 

Next week’s topic: What is one thing you would have started sooner with your child? (Tough one!!)

Big thanks to Katelyn for joining us this week! Want to co-host a week of Moms Check In with us? Fill out the form here!