Making Your Teenager Do Chores: 5 Helpful Tips

Making Your Teenager Do Chores: 5 Helpful Tips

  

Chores are one of the reasons why many families have ferocious arguments at home, especially if that home has teenagers. For many parents, getting their teens to pick up after themselves is a difficult task. They end up either aggressively nagging or yelling, or they give up completely. Either way won’t give you the desired results, which is why we’ve gathered some helpful solutions to your teenage chore problem.

Making Your Teenager Do Chores: 5 Helpful Tips
[ photo: pexels by isaac taylor ]

1. Give Clear and Timely Instructions

Try to make your requests ahead of time and don’t surprise them with spontaneous demands, especially if they’re watching TV on a Sunday morning because you’ll only be met with resistance. Be clear on what you want ahead of time; establish an agreement on what you expect them to do and when. 

Assign them regular chores like clearing up the table after dinner, or emptying the dishwasher before they sleep, and so on. Also, be clear on what their task is and don’t make the request vague and general as “clean your room.”  

2. Consider the Bigger Picture 

Some teenagers don’t respond to statements like cleaning up will help you “become a better adult.” They may also come up with excuses as to why they don’t want to do a specific chore. Approach their excuses by offering appealing solutions. Some teens wouldn’t want to do laundry or the dishes because of harsh chemicals that affect their skin, for example. 

Consider getting skin-friendly, hypoallergenic products and scour online reviews for the best laundry detergents for sensitive skin; this will show them that there’s room for flexibility on your end and you’ve responded to their needs and expect them to help in return. This also shows them that you respect other people and this way, they will respect others and their belongings.

3. Create Clear Consequences

Establish clear-cut and sensible consequences; don’t just come up with random punishments when you’re angry. Make your punishments known, predictable, and consistent. Take away one privilege, whether it’s their allowance or any form of entertainment, each time they don’t do one chore. Let them be in charge of their fate when doing chores.

4. Remind only ONCE

When they don’t do their chores, simply follow up with the consequences without constantly reminding them. Consider using the “if…then” statement; if they don’t clean their room before bedtime, they won’t get their weekly allowance. Keep your cool because anger and constant nagging will make it worse.

5. Offer Rewards and Flexibility

Although it’s not advised to reward constantly, give them reasonable incentives on why they should help around their home. If they do extra chores, offer an allowance raise or an extra privilege. Allow them self-discipline by letting them control the time they do their chores. This freedom and flexibility will teach them to be in charge of their time. 

Chores are important for any teenager to learn adult responsibility; it will allow them to manage their time better and learn some valuable life lessons. Be sure not to put them off or demotivate them, but approach them with the abovementioned tips for fruitful results.