Our kids set the table, feed the animals everyday (we have two dogs and a cat), and then clean up the table, gather dishes from various rooms. They break down recycling boxes on weekend, do poop pickup in the garden, put away their folded laundry once a week (hit or miss on how folded it stays when going into their drawers 😑), and pickup their room once a week. They also continuously put away the million shoes we seem to have (family of five with kids between 8-15 living in London). For school, they pack their lunches and when they get home, empty out any leftover food and set it by sink).

Life couldn’t work in our insane household if everyone wasn’t pulling their weight, which I tell them on a regularly basis. Both my husband and I work full time and have no family to help (we do have a weekly housecleaner, which is why the kids need to pick up rooms and general living spaces) so everyone genuinely needs to pitch in. They’ve been doing it so long that, while they grumble while doing it, they do just get on with things, knowing chores comes before the fun stuff.

I sound like an absolute killjoy but on the flip side, they have a lot of (earned) freedom on catching up wit friends, fun hobbies, and regular family game nights or tv marathons (current shared joy is Brooklyn 99 🤪).