by Janet Hughes

Created on: December 19, 2008

During my second year at university I shared an apartment with some girlfriends. We all got along fabulously, and really enjoyed living together. However, as the semester wore on myself and another roommate found ourselves taking care of all of the cleaning duties that go into maintaining a household. Tired of picking up after the others and in an attempt to keep our friendships in tack we designed a chore wheel. This little wheel divided the chores up equally and assigned each roommate with a group of tasks, and each week the names shifted around the wheel. Thankfully I am still friends with these girls today and we owe that largely to the fact that our parents taught us sharing the household chores is expected.

As children there were no elaborate chore wheels on the fridge in our homes. Our parents, each in their own way, taught this lesson through experience. As little children we were all taught to clean up our toys when we were finished playing with them. As we grew there was the expectation that our rooms would be kept tidy, and when we didn't naturally undertake this task we were told to do it. As we became teenagers there were more tasks expected of us.

In my girlfriends home each child was assigned their own task. One took out the garbage and recycling week after week. One cleaned the kids shared bathroom on an ongoing basis. And one was responsible for vacuuming regularly.

In my house it was a bit more rotational. Each of us had our rooms to maintain, and our own laundry to care for. And each day when we came home there was a note waiting for us outlining what was expected of us. I am sure that somewhere my Mom had a running tally of who had done what the previous week to ensure things remained fair. But lets be honest not everyone is good at everything and when it really counted I vacuumed, my sister dusted and my brother cleaned up after the dog.

But it didn't stop there. At dinner there were always three options. Set the table, clear the table, and fill the dishwasher. It was left up to us to claim the task we wanted for the evening. To this day I am still in charge of setting the table at family gatherings!

The point is there are many ways to divide up chores for children. Set up a chore wheel and post it on the fridge. Assign tasks to each child that you need or want accomplished each day or week. Permanently pass off tasks to children. Or list what needs to be done and let them work it out for themselves. The important part is that they are getting involved. It builds a sense of community; gives kids something to be proud of; and develops important skills they will use later in life. And while tasks do need to be age appropriate, there is always something for the little ones to help with.

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