I completely agree. My oldest two have to put away their own laundry, and all the children have to clear their plates after meals and put dirty laundry in the basket. They also have to keep their rooms, and the playroom, tidy. The older boys regularly vacuum too. I stop short of getting them to do the dishes as they stack it wrong, but I will work on this with them and eventually they can do this too, but they do help me unstack it when it has finished.

I did kinda think I was a bit of a cruel mum getting them to do chores, glad I am not the only one. I think it does them good. DH could not do his own laundry when I moved in with him (aged 25) but I was doing all the housework (on a rota system) including laundry and cooking meals from 16. I'm so glad one of us could cook and clean otherwise I dread to think what our house would have looked like