Between the eye rolls, sighs and “no one understands me!” comments, your teen should still have a list of chores that they are required to do. By age 13, your child should be capable of doing almost everything chore wise in the house. For teens, you’ll want to add an allowance to their chores, but don’t make the mistake of paying them without working for it. That only leads them to have a sense of entitlement that the grown up world won’t cater to. If you’re looking for ideas, these 5 age appropriate chores for teens are a fantastic place to start.
Cook a meal – If your teen knows how to cook for themselves, there’s no reason they can’t take over cooking duties once or twice a week. Pay them a small amount for their “trouble” and sit back and relax on those nights.
Run errands – If your teen has their license, send them off once a week with a couple of errands to run. This can be anything from dropping off dry cleaning to picking up a few items at the store. The idea is to help lighten your load but be sure you don’t overload them.
Lawn maintenance and weed eating – Where your tween can mow the grass, your teen is able to do complete lawn care. Things like mowing, weeding and even planting flowers if you wanted. As with tweens, since this is above and beyond a regular household chore, you’ll want to consider paying them above and beyond what their regular allowance is.
Baby-sitting – If you have an older teen and younger kids, there’s no reason to hire a sitter outside of the home. Instead, pay your teen to watch their siblings. You might just save a little bit of cash and you’ll be leaving them with someone that you know cares enough to watch them.
Clean the bathroom – It’s true that your child may be capable of cleaning the bathroom at an earlier age, but really, I think it should be kept until they’re older. You’ll have to show them how it’s done or give them a checklist, but once you have done that, turn them loose and let them get to work.
Your teen, especially older teens, are preparing to go out into the world on their own. Their chores should reflect that and teach them the final lessons that you will teach them as a child. They should be given responsibility in order to prepare them for their upcoming adult life.
What kind of chores does your teen do?
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