by When your kids are young, they love to help around the house. This is both a blessing and a curse. Yes, it is faster for you to do something yourself. However, you need to teach those kiddos how to work and train them the right way. As soon as your kids hit the toddler stage, they are ready to help do at least simple chores.
Double the Work
When looking for chores or tasks that your twins can help with around the house, you’ll need double the work. You don’t want one twin to do everything while the other sits idle. Plus, one will probably be eager for her turn as well.
Having the twins both work on one thing or having each of them do a different task may be in order. When you’re having your kids help you do something, remember that it’s not going to go as fast as if you had done it yourself. It’s definitely not going to be done as well as if you had done it yourself. That’s just part of the process.
It’s OK to slow down to show them how to do a task and take time to help them do it themselves. You may have to do some supervision and management as they do those tasks. Overall, it may take you longer to do something, but that’s OK, because ultimately the kids will become more self-sufficient in those things, and be able to do them on their own.
Example Job: Taking Out the Trash
A perfect job for twins is taking out the trash. There should be plenty of trash cans throughout your house that need to be emptied. Additionally, we (like many of you) have both a trash can and recycle bin. There’s two things right there that each of your twins can help with. One can take out the trash and the other can take out the recycling.
Example Job: Yard Care
When your twins are a little bit older, they can help with mowing and trimming the grass. Again, you can alternate what task what child is going to do, or you can have one do the mowing, one do the trimming. That’s one thing I need to work on as a dad, as our kids get a little older, is getting them to mow and trim the grass.
(RELATED: Still looking for the right twin gear? See my Twin Baby Gear Essentials.)
Example Job: Watering
One thing our kids love to do is water the plants. Watering the garden, the flowers, the trees, the plants, the grass you name it. Kids love water in general: in the bathtub, in the pool, at the beach, and in the backyard. Letting them take turns with watering and the hose is a great thing they can do in the afternoon in your backyard.
Remember that you can’t just give assignments, you’ll need to show and help perform many chores around the house until the kids are old enough to work independently.
Picture by ccarlstead
