Why Chores Matter More Than a Clean House

If asking your child to empty the dishwasher feels like starting a negotiation, welcome to our club.

In this episode of Parenting Shrink Wrapped, Dr. Melissa Wellner and parent coach, Sam Straub, tackle one of the most common parenting struggles: chores.

While many parents see chores as a way to keep the house running, research shows they also help children develop confidence, responsibility, executive functioning, independence, and important life skills they'll use well into adulthood.

Melissa and Sam discuss why kids naturally resist chores, how parents can reduce power struggles, and practical language that encourages cooperation instead of conflict. They also explore why starting chores early matters, how to adapt expectations for different developmental stages, and why relying on rewards can sometimes backfire.

Whether you're introducing chores for the first time or trying to navigate the daily "I'll do it later" conversation, this episode offers realistic, encouraging strategies you can put into practice today.

⚠️If you are tired of the fights and struggles with your teen, Sam is hosting a 1 hour FREE workshop called “How to Stop Fighting With Your Teen Without Giving Up Your Authority.”  It’s a condensed version of a well-received three-part event she hosted back in April.  Why is she condensing it?  To help you learn as much as possible as fast as possible. We’re all busy people.  If you are dealing with battles over chores–or anything else for that matter–join Sam later this month. Save your free spot here.

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This podcast is educational in nature and is not a substitute for professional medical or mental-health care. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Well not good. Yeah. But it's so we all get into it. Like, what if you've got a kid who has a chore and you're like, hey, you didn't do that chore. Hey, it's Tuesday, you didn't do that chore. Hey, it's Wednesday, you didn't do that chore, it's Thursday, you didn't do that. Yeah. Guilty, by the way. Yep. Yep. For sure. If you can find a way to not be a nag, even if that like that might sound like, you know, if you sat on it for a while and you're tempted to nag, you could go to your child and be like, listen, I I know that if I say what I want to say, I'm gonna totally blow it between you and me. But that's where I am right now. And so instead of nagging, you confess where you are. You you you narrate what's going on inside of you. It's because there's this unfinished thing and it's in my head, and I don't know if it's in your head, and I kind of want to check it off my to-do list, but it requires you to do something. And I don't know if that's fair or not fair. I'm just letting you know that our relationship is breaking down a little bit the more you delay this task.

SPEAKER_01 1:00

Welcome to Parenting Shrink Rapt, where two mental health professionals will get real with you about the joys and the challenges of raising children and teens. I'm your co-host, Dr. Melissa Wellner, a double board certified psychiatrist and child and adolescent psychiatrist and mom of three.

SPEAKER_02 1:19

And I'm Samantha Straub, licensed clinical counselor, longtime educator, parenting coach, and mother of two. Together, we'll explore all things parenting, from handling monumental meltdowns to first-time drivers. We're all about giving you practical strategies that work. Parenting Shrinkwrapped is more than just advice. You'll sit in with us for compassionate conversations about the complexities and the absurdities of parenting. We're here to support you and your kiddos.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

So grab your cup of coffee, take a deep breath, buckle up, and join us for this journey called Parenthood. We'll laugh, learn, and commiserate about the joys and messiness of raising kids. And you know, Sam and I are always talking about raising the next generation of world changers, and something as simple as chores can really be a part of that.

SPEAKER_02 2:35

Your kids probably will argue with you on that point. With a lot of um emotions. But that's what we're gonna talk about today. Chores. How to get your kids to do them, why it's important, and and why it's a like it's a it's a battle worth waging, um, and how to make it less battly.

SPEAKER_01 2:56

Yeah, because we've all been there. Um I don't think any parent who's asked their kid to do something that was not a desired task and something that would be labeled as a chore hasn't at some point in time turned into a monumental meltdown.

SPEAKER_02 3:12

Yeah, it's one of the things that I talk about most frequently with my parenting coaching clients and therapy clients who are parents about, you know, like we don't ask much. This is this, these are their responsibilities. And it's usually like keep their room halfway tidy, empty the dishwasher, take the trash out. It's like it's like basically participating in some of the daily ins and outs of the household functioning for the most part, and they're like, and they act like this is the biggest burden, right?

SPEAKER_01 3:41

Like that's well, and teens their response are, well, why? Why do I have to do this?

SPEAKER_02 3:49

What were your when you were when you were a kid or and or a teenager, what were your household chores? What did you have to do in your house?

SPEAKER_01 3:55

I emptied the bathroom trash cans. I had to clean the tops of the radiators, I had to dust them. I remember explicitly doing this, and I had to clean the toilets.

SPEAKER_02 4:06

I had no bathroom chores. I didn't have to do any of those. I did outdoor, I had to mow. I was I was like I didn't have to mow.

SPEAKER_01 4:12

I definitely helped with like weeding and leaf pickup like seasonally. Uh-huh. Um but my brother and I were expected to help and do stuff for sure.

SPEAKER_02 4:23

Huh. Yeah, I had to keep my room clean and and I mowed. I don't remember. Like I definitely I know I did other chores, but I don't remember them being like mandatory. You know, like and um yeah, I don't remember But they probably were.

SPEAKER_01 4:42

It's about how you frame them.

SPEAKER_02 4:45

They might have been. Like I remember vacuuming, and I remember like I definitely well, we had to do our dishes. That was a big thing. Because we often it wasn't an explicit thing in my household. You weren't nobody said you are responsible for your own dishes, but if you didn't do your dishes, you were in like the mom dog house.

SPEAKER_01 5:04

She looked at you like probably not a good place to be, Sam.

SPEAKER_02 5:07

Like she would look at like like you, you, you disappointed me, you're a failure of a kid. Like, like it was it was um why why am I a therapist? Mom baggage, right? Like, but doing your dishes, like if you left crap in the kitchen, all bets were off. So I don't know that that was an exact chore. It was just a like have to do that in my household if you want to stay in good connection with your parent.

SPEAKER_01 5:34

Well, I think some of it is like expectations versus something you might label as a chore. Like, I expect my kids to clear their plates and put their stuff in the dishwasher after dinner. Like that's an expectation, but it is somewhat of a chore in a way, too.

SPEAKER_02 5:50

Yeah, I hadn't thought of it like that. Like that's an expectation. I that's just like how dinner goes. I wouldn't have called that a chore, but like, yeah, when you're done dinner, you pick up your stuff and bring it over to the sink and and hopefully put in the dishwasher. If maybe with some reminder. Like three for four. There's four straws. We're three for four on that one. Although we're moving, we we've we we've recently moved four for four, but um executive function stuff comes comes along when it comes along. But okay, chores. It they are good for kids. There's so much research to support that like the outcome that chores give kids long term are things like confidence, um uh self-esteem, you know, like a positive view of themselves, higher academic achievement. Like little kids, kindergartners who had some chores. And I think sometimes we underestimate what kids are capable of, or we fail to give them chores because we're like they're going, they're not going to complete them to the standard that we would like as the adults, but even younger children can have.

SPEAKER_01 6:56

My kindergartner was folding socks for me last night. Yeah, that's my kids. My kids when they were little, they were the sock that we're she can match them up, uh-huh, you know, and some of the socks, one was still inside out, and that's how it went into the laundry, and that's how it came out, but she did it. Mm-hmm. Right. And you and you didn't undo it, hopefully, because and she folds like the washcloths because like they're small enough to make a square out of.

SPEAKER_02 7:21

And yeah. So there's lots of like long-term, I don't know, health and development reasons um to to put chores into place.

SPEAKER_01 7:31

Um But I think you're teaching your kid life skills too. Like eventually they're going to fly the nest. Kids need to know how to do these things in order to maintain a home of their own in the future.

SPEAKER_02 7:45

You make a great point. So like we're not just talking do chores for the sake of good character, also do chores to teach lit life skills.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

Yeah, like it you need to know how to func how to do laundry. And like, are you not gonna have clean clothes as an adult because mom's not doing the laundry anymore? Because that's not gonna fly too well.

SPEAKER_02 8:03

In my house for one of my children, uh, uh that child lost laundry privileges from me, like lost mom involvement in laundry during eighth grade. There was just too much taking, and that wasn't a chore, like I was doing everybody's laundry. There were other responsibilities, but I was a laundry doer. But there was too much taking advantage of my time and effort, and um so a consequence in eighth grade was I will no longer do your laundry ever. And the situation better learn how. And and the child did learn how. And sometimes, as a treat, like I would push laundry along, like if it was wet in the washer, I would push it along to the dryer. And sometimes even now, I'll be like, Okay, I helped with that load of laundry, but uh I I did not. I withheld laundry privileges, and the other kid didn't lose their laundry privileges. And and I would say, How come one kid would be like, How come you do my siblings' laundry and not mine? And I was like, Well, they didn't lose that wasn't a consequence for them. But by the end of high school, everyone was doing their own laundry. I wasn't doing anybody's laundry. Okay, so let's let's talk about like why chores matter. We've talked about a bit of it, right? Independence, responsibility, life skills, and on family unit functioning.

SPEAKER_01 10:14

Yeah, how do you function and live cohesively with other people? I mean, if you've never think about a kid going off to college and living in a dorm for the first time. Like, if you don't know how to cohesively live with another individual and now you get thrown in with a complete stranger, how do you how do you manage that if you have no framework to build off of?

SPEAKER_02 10:35

Right. Right. Um also just sidebar on on family unit, like um, oftentimes parents, this is a total sidebar, but I think chores tie into making you feel like you are part of the family, like you are a member of the team. Well, you contribute, yes. And and so and I think that giving your children an identity as like uh like my kids are strobs, you know, your kids are wellners, you know, like they're giving them an identity as a member of your family is the first and most foundational group to which they belong. And when groups get shaky in school, and they do, you know, when kids go through like social plate tectonics, sometimes they don't feel or know which groups they belong to. And if they can fall back and be like, well, at least I'm a at least I'm a member of the family. So the way we frame chores can be, you know, you are one of us and we do these things.

unknown 11:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:33

And I think that that is beneficial. That's just language to use as you are just, you know, telling chores, telling your kid which chores that you're gonna they're gonna do. Um but yeah, I wouldn't say that kids are gonna be like, so these are the cases, don't use this to say, I am assigning these chores, so you'll have like long-term better academic outcomes, son. That probably won't go over pretty well. No, so like it might just when you're when you're describing this to your kids, when you're assigning chores to your children, they need to be age appropriate, developmentally appropriate. And there is no reason to explain, like, this is for the studies show, kiddo. That probably wouldn't fly too well, but because you are one of us, because our family like values these things, because we want to teach you how to live within a family, within a group of people, because eventually these we're not gonna be the people you live with, those are fine reasons, and I think kids will buy into those mostly. Like again, if kids are ornery, they're they're gonna give you flack no matter what.

SPEAKER_01 12:42

I think and I think that's that's gonna be normal, especially if it's something, if it's a new concept that you're introducing into your family, um it's you're gonna get pushback. I mean, I feel like every parent has gotten the pushback, oh mom, I'll do that later. And later means in 20 years, probably, but so what do you do?

SPEAKER_02 13:06

Let's because uh yes, everyone, every family, and every parent listening, if you've if you've assigned a chore to your child or there's a regular chore that they're supposed to remember, and you have just reminded them that it's chore time, and they say, I'll get to it later. I feel like everyone listening that's happened too.

SPEAKER_01 13:23

I yeah, I and if it hasn't happened to you, please email us and let us know because you're doing something. Yeah, tell us the magic better than we are.

SPEAKER_02 13:31

How do you just prevent it? So I don't think it's a preventable response because developmentally, kids and teens in particular listen to the loudest need, not the highest priority need. And if the loudest need in any given moment is whatever they're doing at the moment in the highest priority need is get the chore done because, like, for example, if the chore is dishes and a meal's about to be made, but there's a backlog of dishes from lunch and it's about to be dinner time, and like they need to get the dishes done so that the next round of dish creation, you know, dirty dish creation pile on top of right. So, like that has to happen. That's high priority right then for the at least the family. They might the kid might not be realizing it, but if they're scrolling on their phone or they're on FaceTime with a friend, or they're in the middle of a project, or they're outside shooting hoops, those are all more fun things. Yeah. And that's gonna take priority. So that's a plenty of good reason why they'll be like, I'll do it later, just to get you off their case. So when oftentimes we'll parents will be like, nope, you do it now, right? Like, and then there's a major power class.

SPEAKER_01 14:36

You're gonna end up literally in a in a full-on argument with your kid at that point, right?

SPEAKER_02 14:41

So, language you can use in to help your kid when they say I'll do it later. You can say, Um, yeah, I trust that you'd like to, and it's time to do that now. How can I help you transition towards the tour, the towards the chore? That's it. Like you you don't you don't escalate, you don't yell, you you you validate, like I trust that you mean that for right for this reason that's time sensitive. Yeah, and it might be, I trust that you mean that, but historically that hasn't actually happened. Like historically, I say okay, and then it's 10 p.m. and it's bedtime, and there's still dishes in this thing, right? Whatever, therefore, this has to happen now. How can I help you transition towards it? There, that's it. And oftentimes they will look at you like and they because they're like, I don't want your help, and then they'll get up and do it. Not every kid. The kids with certain profiles um are gonna put up a big, big fight. Yes. ADHD, autism spectrum, um, any kid anxiety, even certain certain presentations of anxiety, um, any kid for whom the request feels like like it registers in their body like a threat of some sort, like this is a big problem for me right now, right? That there's a word, pathological demand avoidance, which is the term that um we're coming to understand as a component of raising kids with some of these profiles. So if you try my, hey, it's time, you know, how can I help you transition towards the chore and it backfires with your child, just know that that might not be a you problem. Sometimes it's also you might have a like a hypersensitive kid to to requests. Yeah, for sure. So sidebar on that one. Um, all right, so let's talk about how to give, like how how to assign chores.

SPEAKER_01 16:39

And I think it needs to start pretty early on. Yeah, I mean, I think even a two or three year old can help. Like, um, you know, you see this often with like if you have more than one kid and there's an older sibling who's in the toddler age range, like, hey, can you go get mommy this for the baby? Like, they can help and do small things. Everything might not be done 100% correctly. There are definitely gonna be mistakes, or you know, like folding socks, you know, there's gonna be one left inside out, or it's not gonna be folded the way you may fold it. Um but it's also, you know, the fact that they are there helping and you're starting to build patterns and routines, then it becomes just normal. And that just becomes how you guys function as a family unit.

SPEAKER_02 17:37

And also if you're working on making chores part of your younger child's repertoire, um, adapting the environment so that they are capable of executing the chore, like like that might mean putting, like if let's say you want your child to help dry the dishes and the dishes are plastic and that's you know, you've then then put a put a towel hook lower down for them and put like make a little counter down low, and you could put the dirty dishes in a basin or the wet dishes in a basin, and they can take them out one at a time and dry them. Like if you go into a preschool classroom, particularly a Montessori classroom, but everything's low. Everything's low, and they've created um little stations for kids to do tasks. I worked in a fantastic elementary school for one year, not my age group, but but a fantastic, like just a great school, great culture school. And the teachers had created in their classrooms little spaces that were for whatever the chore was. So then there were chores in the classroom. Yeah. So like around the sink, there were sponges so that there could like you, like if you made a puddle around that when you washed your hands, you could sponge up the puddle. You know, like they they made it so kids could do what was helpful.

SPEAKER_01 18:56

Yeah, and kids are very, very capable when put in the right situation to do it.

SPEAKER_02 19:02

Now, and the same goes for teenagers too, you know, like um sometimes sometimes when we say, like when we give them a chore, again, executive functions come along when they come along, but they're not fully wired in any kid until our 20s, until the early 20s. Um, so sometimes when you assign a chore, if it's a multi-step chore to an older kid, um it doesn't register. No, they will stall because they're like that feels like a whole day event.

SPEAKER_01 19:37

Or that's the go clean your room, Sam. Because that could mean a bazillion different things. Does that mean there's laundry out? Does that mean there's trash in the room? Does that mean things are just not put away? There's stuff on the floor. Like, I your bed's not made. What does that actually mean?

SPEAKER_02 19:55

And what does a clean room look like? Does a clean room look like all the crap's off the floor but shoved in drawers and closets, right? Um, what what what actually is a clean room? So some things that get in the way of chore execution, one multi-step. So like when you say go instead of go clean your room, say here's a trash bag, we're gonna go, you know, your room needs to get cleaned. First step is find trash in your room and put it in here. And like if you can't, if your kid can't automatically break down steps. And then next step is here's the hamper. I want you to put all dirty stuff in this hamper, and then we're gonna put it in the hallway, right? Like, you need to give them steps for how to do this and don't expect them to memorize the steps from when they do this one time to the next. Like you're gonna have to be involved in these multi-step processes for some kids. Other kids, they they can conceive of the end. So they need to know what a clean room looks like, and then they need to know sub steps for getting it clean. Um, and they may need your partnership to help them start. Yeah. Because again, executive function kids have kids who have struggled with executive functions struggle struggle to initiate.

SPEAKER_01 21:08

So starting a big overwhelming task when you say go clean your room to a kid who struggles with executive functioning. They don't even know where to start, they end up paralyzed, not doing anything.

SPEAKER_02 21:17

Yeah, task paralysis. ADD kids have this all the time. Right. So, so break it down, right? Um, and sometimes you have to pick your battles too. Like, if your child, if like let's say your kid has not been able to clean their room or execute a multi-step chore, but they do it and it's like 80% good.

SPEAKER_01 21:39

You need to praise the heck out of that 80%.

SPEAKER_02 21:42

Yeah, just be like, hey, I like great effort. It can be tempting to be like, great effort, but you left every drawer and your closet wide open and whatever else, you know, and you and you didn't take any of the books off of your bed. What's going on there, right? It can be tempting to say great effort, but don't do the butt. Don't do the butt if you can avoid it. Yeah, if you can avoid it.

SPEAKER_01 22:05

Because we want to- You're gonna undo all of it, and then in the future there you're gonna be starting from like 10 steps behind.

SPEAKER_02 22:12

Yeah, we want it reinforced behaviors we want to see more of. So we don't want to shame behaviors that that were good, right? That are that are helpful. All right, what do you think about stickers and charts and reward systems? This for that.

SPEAKER_01 22:26

So there's different, I think it depends somewhat on the kid. And it depends on your guys' family dynamics. Um, so some families are gonna function where these are just expectations of being part of a family. Um, some kids are gonna need more positive reinforcement than just that verbal praise. I think the verbal praise should happen no. Matter what. But some kids also need visual reminders for things, especially if you reiterating it all the time is going to bother you as a parent.

SPEAKER_02 23:07

So like a chart or a system can be not just like, hey, if you do this, you get that, which by the way, I don't love. Well, I'll talk about that in a second. But it could be these are the chores of the week, and here's like a here's a list that go that we can check off each week. Like that can be helpful.

SPEAKER_01 23:23

Yeah. And so those visual type reminders are also really good for younger kids because if a kid is still learning how to read, there can be pictures of things. So there's ways to get creative as well. And kids do well with positive reinforcement. So being able to check something off or put a sticker somewhere or something like that can definitely be a good positive behavioral reinforcement tool. But the getting paid for this or that sometimes can definitely backfire.

SPEAKER_02 23:59

That's what I was gonna say that I do not love, you know, you get five, let's say, like, let's say each chore, let's say the child has five chores in a week. And you get, if you get a star next to each chore, then you get this treat on Saturday, right?

SPEAKER_01 24:15

Um, I do not love that because it doesn't always work, Sam, because kids for a kid to wait a week, that's right, that positive reinforcement model won't work out well because kids will get lost somewhere in the midst of that week and it won't work out.

SPEAKER_02 24:32

And and when and parents of teenagers make it even longer. Like if you if you do all your chores for a month, then you can have this e-bike. Or like look right. Like I'm just thinking about like what's trendy right now. Um if you want to get your kid an e-bike and you're feeling like that, okay. Talk, you know, talk about what the contingent or what the um you know the rules are for using that and why you're doing it, but don't make it because because you've done these chores, because then what we do is we make chore doing, and this applies to grades too, by the way, external motivated, externally motivated. And not that kids are going to be necessarily internally motivated to do the chore because they like it, but we want them to be internally motivated to do the contributing, yeah. Right?

SPEAKER_01 25:20

Well, also too, once they get that external reinforcement item, if it's the big e-bike or whatever, you know, the ice cream on Sunday, the motivation to continue falls off. It's gone. They're like, What's what's my next treat? So and then you have to keep upping the annie, you're gonna go broke doing this.

SPEAKER_02 25:41

Or you're gonna raise a kid who's incredibly transactional. And when and I know as an educator, when I had kids in school who whose parents were raised, whose parents did this in their household, I could tell because they were like, why should I do this? Like, what's in it for me? You know, um, if if you ask them to help or something like that, they will just be like, no, like being a part of a community matters not to me.

unknown 26:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:07

And so in this way, we are raising kids of good character when we ask them to contribute. Um, I'm trying to think if there's anything else that I wanted to say around getting them. Oh, nagging. Oh, not good. Yeah, like it, but it's so we all get into it. Like, what if you've got a kid who has a chore and you're like, hey, you didn't do that chore, hey, it's Tuesday, you didn't do that chore, hey, it's Wednesday, you didn't do that chore, it's Thursday, you didn't do that. Yeah. Guilty, by the way. Oh, yep. Yep. For sure. If you can find a way to not be a nag, um, and even if that like that might sound like, you know, if you sat on it for a while and you're tempted to nag, you could go to your child and be like, oh, listen, I I know that if I say what I want to say, I'm gonna totally blow it between you and me. But that's where I am right now. And so instead of nagging, you confess where you are. You you you narrate what's going on inside of you. It's because there's this unfinished thing and it's in my head, and I don't know if it's in your head, and I kind of want to check it off my to-do list, but it requires you to do something. And I don't know if that's fair or not fair. I'm just letting you know that our relationship is breaking down a little bit the more you delay this task.

SPEAKER_01 27:29

So another thing I always say about nagging clinically is, you know, usually during my clinical appointments, I have a parent and a kid in the room at the same time. And this topic comes up all the time. There's always every family has, you know, resistance to doing something that's expected or required to do. Yeah. And I usually will turn to the kid in front of the parent and say, I know you feel like mom or dad is nagging you. I'm like, the best way to get them to stop nagging you is to just do it. Which is helpful if there's a you in the picture. Yeah. You know, not every family has that. If there is someone else involved, sometimes that helps because it also empowers the kid that, like, oh, wait, I can also change my parents' behavior. Um so sometimes I've said it to my own kids. I'm like, you want me to stop nagging you? Just get it done, and I I will be quiet and I will walk away.

SPEAKER_02 28:27

But you have to say that in a way that's not snarky and yes, yeah, no, it has to be the right tone for sure. Right? Like what you just how you just delivered that was not snarky. Like, hey, would you know you this is the the ball's in your court, you're gonna get me totally off your back if you just complete the task. You could also say, You want me off your back? Just do the stinking chore then, right? Like, that's a different tone.

SPEAKER_01 28:48

Yeah. And I think it's you have to check your own emotions and stay calm before you engage in that conversation as a parent. Like, you may need to like go take some deep breaths before you deliver this.

SPEAKER_02 29:02

Um, and I was thinking about that, you know, you when you were talking about having parents and kids in the room together and you turning to the child and saying, like, you know, the best way to get your parent to stop nagging you is to just do it. If you happen to have, if you're the parent in that room with Melissa, it can be tempting to look to the child and be like, she's right, you know. Or you hear that? And don't do that.

SPEAKER_01 29:23

That is exactly what you do not want to do. Don't do that because I've actually told parents to be quiet. Yeah. Because it's not the way I told you.

SPEAKER_02 29:33

Yeah. Because then it's piling on, it's like the adult's ganging up on the kid, and the and it damages your relationship with the kid because then the parent has been like, see, she's mine, you know, like so. If you if you're fortunate enough to have another adult preaching your message to your child, don't get behind that adult metaphorically speaking and be like, yeah, yeah, you know, like that's bad, that's bad practice. Um, all right, so big picture. Studies show chores are important, like there is every reason to do it. Academic development, personal social development, happiness, well-being is improved, and starting chores young is critical. But if you have not been a chore family, you can start it. However, if you do, you can expect a lot of pushback. We call it like an extinction burst. You know, like when you're trying to extinguish a behavior, in this case it would be lethargy, you know, like it would be like a sloth, avoidance, lots of avoidance, non-contributions, right? You can expect the behavior to amplify before it changes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:42

So that could be totally okay if it's a hot mess. Um, or if it's okay and then it becomes messy again because your your kid hit puberty and all of a sudden you're getting a bunch of pushback for something that they've been doing for 10 years. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 30:57

So well, if you listen, if you have a chore story, if you if you've got stories um from your own household that you want to share, or you're like, wait, here's the situation. How do we handle this? You know where to find us. You can find us at parentingshrinkwrapped at gmail.com, on Instagram at ParentingShrinkwrapped, Facebook at Parenting Shrinkwrapped, YouTube Parenting Shrinkwrapped. You can find us all over the place. Send us a DM, send us an email, and um, you know, your comment might might just turn into an episode.

SPEAKER_01 31:29

We'd love that. So tonight when you want to assign a chore, do so calmly. Um so calmly and and and prepare for battle. Calmly, very calmly.

SPEAKER_02 31:47

So it's not just about emptying the dishwasher. All right, everybody, thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of Parenting Shrinkwrapp. As usual, we love you, we love your kids, and thank you for raising the next generation of world changers. We will catch you in the next episode. Thanks for joining us on this wild ride called Parenthood here at Parenting Shrinkwrapped. We hope today's episode gave you some useful tools and maybe even a few laughs to help you navigate the twists and turns of raising teens and kids.

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Remember, parenting is a journey, not a destination. And no matter where you are on the road, we're here to help you stay on course. Whether it's monumental meltdowns, teenage turmoil, or just the everyday chaos, you don't have to travel this path alone.

SPEAKER_02 32:41

So until next time, keep your seatbelt fastened, your sense of humor intact, and your eyes on the road. We'll be back soon with more compassionate conversations and practical strategies to support you and your family.

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Don't forget to subscribe to Parenting Shrink Raf wherever you get your podcast so you never miss an episode.

SPEAKER_02 32:59

And if you've enjoyed today's show, we'd love it if you'd leave us a review and share it with a friend.com.

SPEAKER_01 33:15

Until we meet again, take care and enjoy the ride.