Help me think of jobs that a ds almost 9 and very responsible can do...

[Old Dominion Heather]

Oooh... That Peek a Boo is stinkin' brilliant! She said in Colleen's thread that she tries to keep her ds too busy to be defiant.

So... what do your boys do. We live in the city, have no animals but a dog and a friend's cats that we feed. He takes care of most of his dog's needs, cleans up his room with the little brothers when he is asked, straightens up for me when asked and puts away his own laundry.

Peek's comment just made me remember how much happier he is when he is working on something valuable.

So, I ask you... What do your boys do all day?

[Scarlett]

My 8 year old only has been outside for 30 minutes just walking around playing games inside his head. He is gesturing and making weird noises...shrug. He is enjoying himself and getting sunshine.

I do have things for him to do...unload the dishwasher, water the plants, vacuum the floor, pick up after himself...get the mail, and the paper. Feed his dog. take out the trash. Clean out the car.

I'd like ideas too though. They don't have to be all 'work' related. Projects would be good.

[Sue G in PA]

:glare: Can we say: fight, squabble, fight some more, whine, etc.? Okay, so not everyday. Seriously, in answer to your questions about jobs to do, this is what my ds9 in responsible for: Either dishes, sweeping or keeping our table clean (my oldest 3 rotate those chores each month), cleaning his hamster cage, feeding/watering hamster, taking the trash out for trash day, cleaning his bathroom (alternates with his 8yo brother), cleaning his room and keeping it tidy, doing his laundry w/ ds8 and putting clothes away, keeping the yard clean, mowing the lawn in the spring/summer. It sounds like a lot, but really a bunch of those chores are 1x/wk. He complains, but once he puts his mind to it...he does a good job.

[Remudamom]

Garages and closets are always good to clean. Attics. Washing the car. Any outbuildings. Washing baseboards. Cleaning the kitchen cupboards. Bathrooms.

My girls have to do those jobs, not because they are sassy, but just because they need to be done. The boys do so much physical labor stuff, feeding cattle, fixing fence, even driving tractors during hay season that I don't have much need to keep them busy.

I think living in the country just provides with more chores. It's got to be harder coming up with stuff in town. We've got tack rooms and chicken houses.

Maybe some type of volunteer work? Although that would involve you too, and that's young to be dropped off somewhere. Are their elderly folks around that need errands or yardwork done?

[Jean in Newcastle]

We have daily chores that are distributed between myself and my two dc.

My ds10 takes out the inside recycling to the bin every day. He takes care of his bed, daily room maintenance. On Monday and Thursday he takes down all the laundry and sorts it for me. He starts the load of whites (I take over on the other loads because they require more spraying with Shout on selected items and has a bigger mixture of fabrics (some delicate). On Tuesdays he and his sister (6) clean the two bathrooms for me. On Wed. he vacuums the dining and living room.

On Friday (his favorite day for chores) he does "special chores": he's taken the cold air return grill off near the furnace (this requires the use of a screwdriver!) and has vacuumed the grill and inside the vent as far as he can reach. He has vacuumed the coils under the refrigerator for me. He has reorganized the pantry shelves for me (this was a big job that took us longer to do). He has replaced lower bulbs on stuff like lamps that he can reach. He has scrubbed out the garbage cans (ok, he didn't really like this job!) He has reorganized our CD's by type of music. I wish I could find more jobs for him that require a tool belt and minimum home repair skills! He loves to help my dh on home improvement projects but dh is not always patient enough (it is faster to do it without him hanging around!)

[MJN]

an online search, you can find age appropriate jobs/chores.

HTH!

Molly

[Old Dominion Heather]

Thank you guys! These have given me some great ideas.