Tidy your bedroom. Wash up. Put the toys away. Pack your school bag. Empty the dishwasher.
There are plenty of jobs around the home we'd love our kids to help with, but whether they choose to comply is another matter.
In the past, parents struggling to motivate children might have used sticker charts. But these paper charts are being consigned to history with the emergence of apps that enable parents to measure, record, add up and share their children's chore success with the whole family.
The Choremonster app claims it will make your kids "beg" to do chores. It works by allowing parents to create scheduled chores with point values. When kids have completed them, parents can approve and dish out points, which lead to rewards.
Other chore apps include Chore Hero, Chore Pad and iChores, which all work on a similar premise. iChores claims to "teach your kids responsibility and make your job easier. Kids can use it [the app] themselves, and let their parents know via Facebook how much they are owed. Give them weekly chores with real dollar amounts. Just like if they had a job and were paid by the task".
Similarly, the website Childzilla offers online chore charts. Parents can award points when chores are done and add comments each day. The site encourages parents to assign point values to prizes and children to make a wish list for awards.
According to one mum on the MommyPoppins website, chore apps work: "This evening, my 7-year-old unloaded the dishwasher, swept the kitchen floor, made his bed, picked up his toys ... this is the first time he ever did some of those things. The magic behind the household chore windfall was a new app: EpicWin."
EpicWin has the interface of an adventure computer game: users pick an avatar and create quests (chores), which have different point values.
Despite the plethora of chore apps and their probable success, the thought of paying your kids to do jobs around the house may make your stomach turn. After all, when you've fed, clothed and cared for these little people from birth, is it too much to expect them to take on the odd job?
"When you reward your child with money for carrying out basic tasks such as keeping their room tidy or clearing up for dinner, you are creating the impression that these are not normal expected behaviours," says Amy Bailey, a clinical psychologist at KidsFirst Medical Center in Dubai (www.kidsfirst.ae).
In defence, the Childzilla website states: "While most parents understand the idea of 'consequences' for bad behaviour, the 'rewards' for good behaviour are often forgotten. Childzilla is designed to help you say 'great job' to your kids." The Childzilla people call it "positive reinforcement".
Therese Sequeira, a parent educator at KidsFirst, agrees: "It is essential to reward children for helping out with chores around the home. Generally speaking, when parents reward children, they are encouraging their children's desirable behaviours to occur more often. Parents who ignore 'good' behaviours will see them decrease over time."
Bailey says: "Chores can help children to feel included and that they are making a positive contribution. This in itself, combined with praise from yourself, is rewarding for the child," says Bailey.
Ultimately, age plays a big part in the appropriate style of reward. For younger children, some good, old-fashioned attention, descriptive praise and stickers (real or virtual) should do the job, but once children approach the terrible teens, hard cash tends to be a greater motivator. Instead of a regular allowance, set up a system in which children earn money for doing chores beyond those that they are expected to do anyway.
Experts agree that it's good to get children on to the chore trail young. "Start at an early age with small jobs," advises Bailey. "This way the child has the expectation from a young age that there are things they can do to help."
And beware of the maid. "It is important in terms of your child's development as a member of society that they still be given opportunities to engage in normal household tasks," she says.
Getting them to cooperate
Elizabeth Pantley, the author of parenting books including Kid Cooperation: How to Stop Yelling, Nagging and Pleading and Get Kids to Cooperate, gives the following advice on issuing chores:
Be consistent
If kids aren't expected to regularly follow through, they might start putting off chores in the hope that someone else will do it for them.
Be specific with instructions
"Clean your room" is vague and can be interpreted in any number of ways. Instead, be explicit by saying, "Put your clothes in the wardrobe, books on the shelf," et cetera.
Go easy with reminders and deadlines
You want the chore to get done but you don't want to micromanage it. Use the "when/then" technique, such as, "When the pets are fed, then you may have your dinner."
Tasks by age
2-3 years
Help make bed
Pick up toys and books
Put rubbish in bin
Help wipe up spillages
Put dirty clothes in washing machine
Dust
Help feed pets
4-5 years
Help prepare dinner
Set the table
Help load the dishwasher / wash up
Put away groceries
Water plants
Empty waste bin
Make a bowl of cereal
Weed garden
6-8 years
Help make and pack lunch
Vacuum and mop
Sweep the floor
Help fold and put away laundry
Make their bed
Rake leaves
Keep bedroom tidy
Make their own snacks
9-12 years
Help wash car
Clean bathroom
Help prepare simple meals
Operate washing machine and dryer
Write shopping list
Take rubbish out
Empty dishwasher
Peel vegetables
13-18 years
Replace light bulbs
Wash windows
Prepare meals
Clean out fridge
Mow the grass
Iron clothes
Clean oven
Change bedsheets
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
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Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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Thu Mar 15 – West Indies v Afghanistan, UAE v Scotland
Fri Mar 16 – Ireland v Zimbabwe
Sun Mar 18 – Ireland v Scotland
Mon Mar 19 – West Indies v Zimbabwe
Tue Mar 20 – UAE v Afghanistan
Wed Mar 21 – West Indies v Scotland
Thu Mar 22 – UAE v Zimbabwe
Fri Mar 23 – Ireland v Afghanistan
The top two teams qualify for the World Cup
Classification matches
The top-placed side out of Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong or Nepal will be granted one-day international status. UAE and Scotland have already won ODI status, having qualified for the Super Six.
Thu Mar 15 – Netherlands v Hong Kong, PNG v Nepal
Sat Mar 17 – 7th-8th place playoff, 9th-10th place play-off
'Nightmare Alley'
Director:Guillermo del Toro
Stars:Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara
Rating: 3/5
Anxiety and work stress major factors
Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.
A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.
Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.
One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.
It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."
Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.
“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi.
“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."
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David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
The specs
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How to improve Arabic reading in early years
One 45-minute class per week in Standard Arabic is not sufficient
The goal should be for grade 1 and 2 students to become fluent readers
Subjects like technology, social studies, science can be taught in later grades
Grade 1 curricula should include oral instruction in Standard Arabic
First graders must regularly practice individual letters and combinations
Time should be slotted in class to read longer passages in early grades
Improve the appearance of textbooks
Revision of curriculum should be undertaken as per research findings
Conjugations of most common verb forms should be taught
Systematic learning of Standard Arabic grammar
UAE SQUAD
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
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SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
