Should children be asked to share household chores ?

I think they should start learning at a young age how to do things, like maybe 7. The sooner they know how to do things, the better off in life they'll be.

yes, i think so. it teaches them a sence of responsiblity. even if it is small things like taking out the trash, cleaning their room, or folding and puting away their own clothes.

We are raising our children to be self-sufficient adults. It is our job to teach them responsibility and how to care for themselves and their home. As far as I'm concerned, my family is a community and we should all be pitching in to help everything run smoothly. My girls, 10 & 14, are very capable of cooking meals for themselves, washing dishes, making their beds and cleaning up. Unfortunately it takes the parents to be gone for them to feel mature and want to do the things they really should be doing every day, or at least once a week. I helped my daughter deliver her newspapers today. I told her afterwards that the least she could do for me was set the table for dinner, which she did. Personally, I think she should be able to deliver the papers by herself but her father has spoiled her by always going with her and now she is dependent on one of us always helping her. My husband is not on the same page when it comes to getting the kids to do things around the house. He's a softie.

I think its ok to ask small children to help around with household chores like putting away their toys, picking up the mess they made, putting their plate and cutlery on the bench after eating, drying dishes (plastic stuff or cutlery), clearing the table and so forth. I'm trying to teach my son who is 4 1/2 that now and trying to encourage him to do things for himself and eventuallly when he's able to become self sufficient and not have to rely on mommy all the time. It will also help to build his confidence too I think. :)

Chores should be age appropriate and part of that means allowing plenty of time for play, but even the smallest children benefit from contributing to the household. My 2yo is responsible for picking up her own toys and attempting to clean up any messes she makes. My older kids have to pick up their rooms and do one other chore daily. The 5yo might be asked to switch over laundry, fold a load of towels, or pick up the common areas of the house. The 6yo has the same list of possible chores but might also dust with s Swiffer. The 8yo might do any of those or clean the kitchen or vacuum. She's learning to clean the bathrooms, but doesn't yet do it to my satisfaction. The 11yo adds to her list sweeping and mopping. The thing is that each child does ONE of those things daily, although he or she may volunteer to do others for extra money. The 11yo also sometimes babysits the 2yo while my husband is sleeping in another room (he works rotating shifts). She is paid for babysitting. My kids have learned many things from doing chores. They are valuable contributors to our family system. With a large family, I really couldn't do it all myself anyway. They have learned that unpleasant tasks have to be done, but that if they are done quickly there's more time for fun. They have learned practical skills for taking care of a home. They have learned that work will be rewarded (they earn spending money for doing chores). They have learned that we can't do what we want all the time, and that if we did, everyone would suffer.