What are some appropriate responsibilities for a nine year old boy?

Question

Does he shower by himself? Comb his own hair? Cross a street? My son needs more responsibility. What is your son doing?

Answer 1

Make thier bed, clean thier room, help with the dishes and setting/clearing up the table, get ready for bed, get dressed in the morning, do their homework before TV or video games or anything like that, fed the dog, take out the cat, maybe some light dusting.

Answer 2

If he is ready to shower by himself, you should definitely let him. My son started being shy at that age and began showering by himself. Combing his own hair is also somehting that he could be doing. Crossing the street on his own - probably not yet. Some other responsibilities could include picking up his own toys and sorting them into toy bins, picking up the clothes he worn and puting it into a laundry basket, bringing his plate and placing it in the sink after dinner. If you have a yard, he could help occasionally with sweeping, holding a garbage bag for you, while you place the leaves there. These are just some of the things my son started doing at age 9. He is 10 now and we are working on keeping his room clean and starting his daily homework without a reminder.

Answer 3

Yes, a nine year old should be able to get himself out of bed, shower and dress by himself. Might need help choosing appropriate clothing. Crossing the street? Do you live in New York or a small town in North Dakota? That's a safety question

A nine year old should be able to pick up after themselves, clear their part of the table and take part is some house cleaning - take the garbage out, vacuum, ??? They can help with food preparation, set the table, ???

Got a yard? I was mowing the lawn by that time, and driving tractors and trucks in the fields by age 10. This is a different age, though, many think that's too dangerous for a 9 year old.

Answer 4

My daughter is 6 and her list of responsibilities are as follows:

-Take the trash the the garbage shoot
-Set the table before dinner and clean after eating
-Make her bed
-When we get our cat (next month) she will be in charge of making sure it is fed

When it comes to having responsibilities you need to look at the maturity level of the child, if he is not mature enough to do certain things then don't make him. At 9 he should be able to comb his own hair, cross a street, and shower by himself. Now if there is a learning disability then yea take it easy on him, also reward him for doing the things he does do.

Answer 5

My 9 year old daughter has a lot of responsibilities compared to her younger sisters. She has to unload the dishwasher, she's responsible for showering and dressing herself before school, she can cross streets in our neighborhood, she helps me sort laundry and can transfer laundry from the washer to the dryer. She's responsible for putting away her own clothing when I do laundry... she also helps with her sisters' stuff. She helps me a lot in the kitchen.. she can crack eggs, stir sauces and soups, and help when I'm browning anything... On Saturdays she cleans her bathroom with the help of her sisters, and she's been responsible for making her own bed and keeping her room tidy for some time now.
Of course, all of these reponsibilities didn't just happen overnight.. everything started with her helping me, and then moved on to more of her doing by herself. I believe it was the book "The Brat Stops Here," that had an age appropriate list of responsibilities for kids. I didn't agree with everything and modified some stuff to fit in our individual family, but it was a good guideline.

Answer 6

My 9 year old gets ready for school on his own which includes picking out his clothes, fixing his hair, getting dressed etc. I've started leaving him home by himself for short periods while I go run an errand. Max 20 minutes. Of course he is under strict instructions to not jump around on the furniture, go outside and play, ride his bike, etc. He does follow these so I trust him.

We just moved from one neighborhood to another. For the first time, and this is a little scary for me, I let him ride his bike to his friends house about a mile away. We are in a safe area, typical suburban setting and no "main" streets he has to go on. I told him to call me when he got there and before he left to come back home. Which he did so I will let him do it again. Of course when he was first learning to ride we went over all the safety issues about how to cross streets etc and he also follows those.

Answer 7

my son is eight. We thought that it was time for him to start getting more responsible so we sat down and wrote out a list of things for him to do each day (a chore chart). He does comb his hair, shower by himself and has been doing that but we added things like feed the dogs and make up his bed, clean his room( pick up toys and dust with the swiffer duster) he also has to pick up all of his clothes and put them away after he takes them off. You should prob. sit down with him and ask him "what are somethings that you think you could do to help out around the house"? Then you all together make up the responsibilites together. Good luck to you!!!

Answer 8

I would certainly say that showering etc is appropriate. As for chores why don't you ask him for suggestions, if he wants to do it, he'll do a better job. My daughter cleans her room, helps to feed and look after the animals and occasionally vacuums. But I don't let her go anywhere by herself because I don't think it's safe where we live.

Answer 9

when i was 9 i mowed our entire lawn that took 5 hours and i was expected to do the dishes and take out the garbage on alternating weeks plus i had to help cut, load ,move, split. move again, stack and bring into the house when needed the 9 to 10 cords of wood we burned a year in the winter to heat our house

Answer 10

my son is 10 and he does everything you listed and more he helps mow the yard he has started to learn to cook (under supervision of course) he goes to his friends house on his bike he has his own pet that only he takes care of he cleans up after himself no one does it for him he is learning to be more responsible and take care of himself