Lazy Parenting: Help with Housework

“Training your child to help around the house will make the job harder now; but it’ll pay off down the road.”

It’s such common advice, it’s become something of a parenting axiom.

The implication is that lazy parents avoid doing the hard work of parenting – that is, training their children in the way they should go – and end up with more pain and work in the future when their children haven’t been trained to do x or y (or to have z or a character traits).

The axiom tells parents to do the hard work of including their children in housework now so that they can offload some of the housework to their children later. Or, less cynically, parents should do the hard work of including their children in housework now so that their children can be responsible for themselves as they grow into adulthood.

The training task of parenthood is often hard – which is why people find it necessary to remind parents to do the hard work now that will pay off down the road.

But I contend that, at least for toddlers, involving your children in housework does NOT make the job harder now. Involving your toddler in housework can pay off in the here and now – not just down the road.

Now, you are probably thinking “Have you seen how much longer it takes to [insert chore here] when my toddler ‘helps’?”

Yes, I get what you’re saying. My toddler tends to smear food around the chairs when she wipes them, which means I have to re-wipe them. My toddler drops the dustpan before she’s emptied it, which means I have to re-sweep a section of the floor. My toddler puts things in the wrong places when she’s picking up, which means I have to re-sort everything multiple times.

Doing a task with my toddler takes 1.5 to 2 times longer than doing a task myself.

But have YOU seen how much extra work my toddler can create when I let her play independently (not right next to me) while I’m cleaning up?

While I’m saving five minutes by cleaning up after lunch without her help, she’s creating ten minutes worth of work in the living room, bathroom, and bedroom.

The reality is, involving your child in your work right now will have benefits both in the future and in the present.

So, if you want to be a really lazy parent, involve your child in housework now.