152: What's Going On With Chores

It seems like we parents always want to know how everyone else is handling chores, yet chores are also (surprisingly) personal! We all have different standards, different capacity, and different families. We share how we think about chores in general, our why behind doing (and NOT doing) chores with our kids, what chores look like for us now with tweens and teens, and what chores looked like when our kids were younger.   As always, you’ll get our LTWs at the end, and we’ve added a new listener question segment! Join us on Patreon to hear us answer this week’s question.   Takeaways -Chores take both parenting time and attention. If we don’t have that to give, it’s ok to skip doing chores with kids for a season. -Our standards as adults are different than kids’ standards. They’re still growing and it’s developmentally normal (and good!) for them to have priorities that are different from ours. -We all live together, so we should all be contributing together. -Chores help our kids understand responsibility and learn life skills. -Helping gives kids a sense of purpose and contribution, which feels really good and boosts self-esteem. -Chores are good practice for how to work and communicate as a team.  -Sometimes we DON'T do chores because it is a lot of work to manage helping kids do chores. -Sometimes we DON'T do chores because it’s a lot of pressure on kids; it can be overwhelming. -Sometimes we DON'T do chores because it's creating relational strain, resentment, or severing connection.   Aha Moment Quote "It’s ok to design your homeschool day around YOUR energy." -Angela   Listener Question Join us on Patreon to hear our conversation answering the question: “What do you do when your kid has a passion you're not very excited about like video games or screens? What if they don't seem to have a passion at all?”   $5 Squad on Patreon We know that a lot of subscriptions and memberships can be out of reach financially for homeschool families, and it’s often us parents that give up the things we want in order to afford what our families need.   But we really want our Squad to be affordable for you because every homeschool parent should be able to get connected to the support they need. You get ALL our rewards and join our community for just $5/month. And we now offer a DISCOUNTED annual rate with TWO MONTHS FREE. $50/year is a small investment to make in YOURSELF—and you DESERVE it. Loving This Week (LTW) Maren: The Amber Ruffin Show Angela: Raising Free People by Akilah S. Richards and Untigering by Iris Chen   Patrons get a monthly "LTW Extra" episode when you join our $5 Squad. An hour-long chat about the shows, products, podcasts, books, and more that we're loving!    More About Homeschool Unrefined We are an inclusive and nonsectarian podcast. We believe Black Lives Matter, and we are LGBTQ+ affirming (for more, read our piece on Romper). We are listener supported and are donating 10% of all Patreon income and product sales to The Conscious Kid, a Black and Brown-led organization that has been instrumental in our own evolution and in leading the way in both ideological and tangible change with their work in “parenting and education through a critical race lens." Read our full ABAR Statement here and on Instagram.   Connect with us!  Visit our website | Sign up for our newsletter. | Support us on Patreon. | Join our closed Facebook group: Unrefined Homeschoolers | Merch Shop Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Youtube Angela on Instagram: @unrefinedangela | Maren on Instagram: @unrefinedmaren Email us any questions or feedback at [email protected] Visit our Amazon Shop: https://www.amazon.com/shop/homeschoolunrefined We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.