Possible Responsibilities and Chores to Give Your Teen

Wondering what kinds of responsibilities and chores to give your teen? Well, this all is going to depend on your teen, their age, and the responsibilities available around the house. They should of course be responsible for daily habits, such as keeping their room clean and making their own bed. This should already be a given. If it isn't in your home, you need to start making it one.

Then some household chores can be added to their responsibilities. Let them know that since they live in the house, they need to help out in the home. Keeping their room vacuumed and their bathroom cleaned are great ideas. Consider having them do a household chore on a daily basis, such as washing dishes, loading or unloading the dishwasher, sweeping the floor, or even straightening up the living room. When you do weekly cleaning in your home, they can help out with that as well. You don't have to give them a huge amount of chores. Usually just 15-30 minutes of chores each day is a great start. It will help you out in the home and help them learn more about being responsible as well.

Giving Choices

Chores or tasks do not always need to be the same each week. Part of growing up and teaching our kids to be responsible is to teach them to learn to make decisions and to teach them they are responsible enough to help with the decisions a household makes. Try getting together on a weekly basis and discuss what needs to be done. Write down what needs to be done each week and who is assigned what, including Mom and Dad. More than likely your teen does not realize what it takes to keep the household going. This may help put a sense of purpose to those weekly chores and give them the feeling they are growing up and their help really does matter.  

Rewarding Your Teen for Being Responsible

While responsibility is something that your teen definitely needs to learn, rewarding them for being responsible and keeping up with their chores is a great idea. This is a great way to get them to do what they need to do. No, you shouldn't bribe them, but a reward when they do a great job is definitely going to help out. First of all, make sure you reward them with a thank you. This will teach them that taking responsibility is appreciated. Who knows, they may even begin to appreciate the things you do more as well.

There are many ways that you can reward your teen for being responsible. Giving them an allowance is a great idea. Perhaps have the allowance hinge on whether or not their chores get done during the week. This is an excellent motivation for teens and then they'll also have the added bonus of learning to handle the money that they earn too. Other rewards can be given too, such as a meal out at their favorite restaurant, a CD they like or a book that they've been wanting. Of course you don't have to reward them for each chore they do – this could get expensive. However, always make sure you let them know you do appreciate them taking responsibility and getting their chores done.