Children Who Do Too Little

by Patricia Sprinkle

Fact: Doing chores improves your child's chances for a happy marriage and a good job. Many parents, rather than fighting their children over chores, would rather do the chores themselves. But Patricia Sprinkle makes a convincing and entertaining case for why kids need chores. They need to develop basic life skills such as cooking and cleaning. They need to learn responsibility and the value of hard work. In short, they need to learn how to become dependable, capable adults. In Children Who Do Too Little, Sprinkle shows why and how parents should teach their children household skills and gives suggestions for making teaching easier. She discusses: --Why we do it all for our children --Guidelines for good family meetings --How to get kids to work --Cleaning tips that make life easier --How to handle the child's own room --Cleaning games to make work fun --The pay-for-work vs. allowance debate Complete with a group discussion guide. Children Who Do Too Little is a book every parent will benefit from-and every child as well! Third Edition

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction

200 pages, Paperback

First published November 4, 1996

About the author

Aka Patricia Houck Sprinkle.

When I met and married Bob, he looked over our budget and demanded, "Why don’t you write a mystery to pay for all the ones you buy?" I immediately knew I wanted to put a body in a building where I’d once worked. However, being over-endowed with the Protestant ethic, I wrote "important" things first and only wrote the mystery in my spare time, so my first mystery, Murder at Markham (reissued by Silver Dagger in 2001), took thirteen years to complete. It took even longer for me to learn that any writing which gives me pleasure is important, whether fiction or non-fiction.

Since 1988 I have written twenty mysteries, four novels, and five non-fiction books. I am grateful to my readers and editors for letting me do what I enjoy most in the world. Bob has concluded that writing is not a profession, it's an obsession--my favorite vacation is to go to a place where somebody else fixes my meals and where I can write more than I do at home, without interruptions. Thanks, if you are one of the readers who keeps my fingers on the keys. I enjoy spending time with you at conferences, book clubs, and signing events.

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're wondering what you should be expecting of your child around the house, this is a good gauge. Religious reasons and motivations are included (I mention this because the blurb doesn't make this clear, though the publisher is a well-known Christian publisher) but it's not overwhelming, it has plenty of anecdotes, statistics, and authority figures quoted. This book will provide you with good reasons and motivation for getting your children to help around the house and many practical applications for doing so and overcoming obstacles that will come up in the implementation.

[Scott Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The simple premise of this book is that children who do too little in childhood may grow up to be incapable of doing enough as adults. Patricia Sprinkle argues that part of our job as parents is helping our children move out of our lives - which necessitates teaching / forcing children to learn to take care of themselves. She argues that teaching your children how to do chores around the home teaches your children that the family is the priority.

Like John Rosemond, Sprinkle argues that while some parents are busy running children to various extra curricular activities, it's questionable whether these will created well-adjusted adults who are able to cope with the chores and day to day routines of adulthood. Many children will enter marriage expecting to play their way through life while someone else keeps them in the manner to which they have become accustomed. Teaching chores is much better preparation for adult life. Likewise she also argues that children should not be permitted to focus on homework or personal activities without also sharing in family maintenance tasks.

One area my parenting philosophy would differ from hers is in the area of decision making. She seemed to promote a more democratic model where everyone in the family gets a say in family chore policy. I tend to prefer the 'benign dictator' model of parenting, so at times there were sections which I disregarded. Nonetheless, some interesting and positive material here. The lists of tasks for different ages was quite helpful as a starting point for thinking about what I should expect from my children.

[Kadee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had some interesting facts. I liked how the author used real life examples of what she was talking about, as well. The only thing I really struggled with was the religious aspects, as I’m not religious and those parts really confused me more often than not.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much of this book was wasted on me as it seems to me that author is remarkably like myself or my mother. She recommends book I have already read, brings in theories I already agree with, suggests ideas my mother used, etc... She even recommends a book by Joy Berry who writes wonderful books my mother collected and passed on to me. I was able to read this book quite quickly because she even conveniently puts in a summary at the end of each chapter.

The list or chores by age was also very nice. I am sure the creative parent could come up with a similar list but it's nice to have someone willing to share the information.

I think this book would be a tremendous asset to the parent with older children. Since my own son is 4, when he doesn't want to do a chore I assign, I just have to wait a minute or so and then he complies without further comment. The parent of a saucy 8 year old or a rebellious teen would probably appreciate the suggestions on convincing and following through with a plan to teach children life skills.

[Adrienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

BEST book ever on teaching kids to clean. Even if your kids do a good job on their chores, this book will make you realize that they can DO MORE than they are already doing. Most American kids do not do enough chores. Too much entertainment will not lead to confident, responsible adults. This book will motivate you as a parent to set a strong chore system in your daily routines.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This should be required reading for every parent. I found the age appropriate chore list to be very helpful. We focused on it for several summers with our girls. Good basic life skills that every child needs!

[Nicole Vander Zwaag · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!! Have implemented several techniques at home and are enjoying the results!!

[Monica Albright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of great advice...now to put it into action...with the help of God and lots of prayers.

[Skye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reinforced the idea that parents really do their children a disservice by not teaching them to work. I wanted more concrete, specific ideas of how or I would have rated it higher.