I did chores growing up. I did from mowing the lawn to doing dishes. I was always out doing something that could get me a couple bucks. It taught me all about laundry, lawn care, house care, and so much more. Without doing my chores I wouldn't be able to do most basic things that I now do in my life. I would be reliant on my dad to do everything for me and I know that eventually he would force me out and I would be clueless to how to make things work. I hated doing the chores and I thought it was a crazy thing for a child to do. After all I had access to tools most twelve year old didn't. I mean if you use the lawn mower just right you could really hurt somebody else or yourself. Yet my dad insisted that I learn and taught me how to do these things. After ten minutes of doing it with supervision he would go back inside and I would do the rest until I was done and then have him check to see if it was good enough work to get paid. It became something that as I got older, I got more used to. I kept at it and doing the chores. 

As the years went on I eventually got a real job and stopped doing the chores. I didnt need to work hard outside anymore and I started pursuing other things. I started working in different places trying to find some thing that was decent and I didn't hate and eventually I landed a job at Earthbound where my life changed completely. 

I got lucky in this situation. To find a job that helped me be a better person and to make decent money and meet good people. Lucky deck that seemed to fall right in my hands. For me the chores taught me everything I needed to know about the basics of taking care of myself and one day, when I have a house, I know how to take care of the lawn, how to do laundry and how to fix basic household items. It's nice having that knowledge and I'm always learning new things. For others though, they aren't that lucky. In today's age people are now talking about how kids doing chores is considered child abuse. They think kids learning how to do simple basic things like folding laundry, is an awful thing for a child to have to do on their own. 

There's articles that have been floating around for the last year that state this and ive read some of them and laughed. I think people forget what child abuse actually is and just don't care. They label anything they see with the first thing that comes to mind and it gives parents a bad reputation. People forget to look up what words mean and forget the real meaning. Honestly it makes me angry that people think that chores are child abuse. It's not abuse, it's responsibility and it honestly was something that taught me a lot. It again has to do with coddling your children. Sure you know how to do the laundry but do your kids? Will they know the difference between colors and whites or will they ruin the clothes forever. 

Responsibility is everything and if you have never had that then good luck out there. I hope you do well in learning because it's such a pain to engrave into your being. It took me years and I'm still growing when it comes to learning responsibility. So if you see those articles, don't believe them. Child abuse is not making your child do chores. It's being a good person and teaching your kids how to be a social, and acceptable human being when out in society. Abuse is hitting, slapping, or even kicking a child to obey. 

Don't make your child afraid of others, make them responsible and teach them how to do the things they need to know to be an adult.