My girls have spent the weekend lounging on the sofa and leaving a trail of destruction wherever they go without ever thinking about who is going to clear up after them. Then again they are five and four so I kind of figured that’s ok.

However, talking to other team members it seems their children have been helping out around the house for some time and I started to wonder if it’s time to pass Molly and Alice the mop!!

Ok so that might be a bit extreme and I still can’t get Edd to tidy up after himself so I don’t hold out much hope with two children. To be fair Molly has been actively getting more involved in things for a little while now. This is not through us pushing her but as she has got older she has taken pride in helping out. She makes her bed every morning (and ours I might add) and now likes to make sure she puts things in and out of the dishwasher. We do also try to get the girls to put their own toys away but that is often met by a lot of protestations from Alice.

I remember as a child we would be responsible for washing up and drying on a daily basis and once my younger brother and sister arrived we helped mum out where we can. I was a touch older then though at eight years old. We never thought of them as ‘chores’ and more simply helping out around the house.

We also washed the cars for a whole 50p. Which leads me on to my next deliberation. Should chores be linked to pocket money or does this lead to the wrong type of reinforcement?

So our discussion today is do your children do chores, what age did they start and do they receive rewards as a result?