Why I'm Not Making My Kids Do Dishes Anymore

You are more than welcome to disagree with me, but I have chosen NOT to make my kids do dishes anymore. The way I see it, they have plenty of other chores to teach them responsibility. 

They each are responsible to do their own laundry, ManBoy is charged with taking out the trash, Fashionista is to keep the bathroom sparkling, and RoboBoy's job is to keep the floors swept and clean. In addition they are each tasked with keeping their rooms and computer areas clean. Yes, we have more than one computer, in fact each child has access to one to use during the day. They also have various smaller chores to keep up with such as helping to care for the critters.

The main reason I'm not letting them do dishes anymore is because I got fed up with never having a clean kitchen. There seemed to always be dirty dishes, and messy countertops. As a result, we've had an issue with ants causing us to have to keep our bread, peanut butter and other ant attractors in the refrigerator. Clean dishes were rarely put back where they belonged. I felt like my kitchen was constantly in a state of disorder which totally stresses me out.

I also feel that, by doing the dishes myself, my kids can see that I'm doing something to contribute to keeping our home clean and orderly. Not that I didn't before, but this is a more tangible contribution. This should help them to feel less 'used' or like mom is just giving them all the work to do.

So as I said, you are welcome to disagree with me on this, but my kids are no longer allowed to do dishes in our house. Well, except on rare occasions. Please feel free to comment and share your thoughts.