Should you pay your teens to do chores? is a collaboration with Indesit. I used to be one of those smug mothers, you know the ones. I thought that I had it sussed. My children helped with chores, they cleaned up, tidied and didn’t complain. I even wrote about ways to get your kids to help do the chores. Oh well, what I can tell you is that karma totally is a thing…..
I have always been a great believer in doing things for the good of the household and am very lucky that I have a husband who is a true partner not only when it comes to decisions but also in pulling his weight with chores and around the house. So I thought that the boys’ would continue being great household helpers. Then puberty and teenagers happened! The thing is I am not alone, research by Indesit shows that in the UK 81% of housework is still done by women.
Back in May, our dishwasher broke and all of a sudden the boys’ didn’t know what had hit them, instead of just loading the dishwasher they had to start to wash up and dry up. It was horrible, not least because I got so sick of nagging them to do it that I was tempted just to do it myself and I started paying them. This was never something I had considered doing before. I used to make them do certain chores for the good of the house and then others we paid extra for such as cleaning the car. At the moment both of the boys are really motivated by money, more so than praise or kudos so it made sense to incentivise the actions I wanted them to complete. Mini called it to blackmail and to be honest, I didn’t care as long as things were getting done by them without me nagging or resorting to doing it myself.
When Indesit found out they sent me an Indesit eXtra dishwasher with the dedicated BabyCare cycle. Maxi and I were so keen to get it installed that we managed to flood the kitchen installing it (thanks to a stopcock that didn’t turn off the water to the house which we have since fixed). I honestly can say that I never realised just how used to our dishwasher we had become and how much we missed not having one. Also just how antiquated and loud our old machine was.
The Indesit eXtra dishwasher is perfect for families with babies and toddlers. It features a dedicated BabyCare cycle, a unique programme that eliminates 99.9999 per cent of bacteria (for total sterilisation of your baby items, Indesit recommends an additional clean using a sterile solution) to ensure optimal cleaning and drying results of your baby items. Boasting an ‘A++’ energy rating and eight programmes to choose from, the dishwasher comes with a handy BPA-free BabyZoo accessory set, designed to neatly stack and secure baby items, including teats and dummies, in the dishwasher with ease.
We are delighted with the new dishwasher and the boys have been stacking it without complaint or payment! MadDad sets it every night and empties it before work on a morning. It does a fabulous job, is nearly silent and has a half load option. We have only ever used the eco option as we have no need for speed as it is set overnight. Although I love the sound of the eXtra cycle where you simply remove the top basket to wash items that measure up to 53 cm in height in just one hour.
So my question to you is who does the housework in your house? Do your children do chores and do you pay them?
Disclosure: Indesit provided Mum in the Mad House with an Indesit eXtra dishwasher in exchange for a blog post about their #DoItTogether campaign.
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