Internet Users Criticized a Mother for Teaching Her 4-Year-Old Son to Do House Chores

47-year-old Agnes Hsu is a mother of 3 children and the founder of a creative website for children and teenagers. Once, she posted a video on social media in which she shared how her then 4-year-old son Dashiell Hsu helps her with household chores. However, viewers’ opinions on this matter were not unanimous.

Agnes used to work as a pastry chef, and many years ago she opened her own line of bakeries. And since Dashiell was 2 years old, she has been running an Instagram page where they cook colorful and fun desserts together. Moreover, the boy is involved in the cooking process from start to finish. And, obviously, he does it with great pleasure.

But Dashiell’s skills aren’t limited to baking. By the age of 5, he regularly helps his mother with routine household chores. And it’s not just occasional work here and there. The preschooler knows how to load the washing machine, wash dishes, vacuum, and dust.

Of course, his mother taught him all of this. She says, “I believe in instilling the helpful habits of pitching in [with] the household chores at a young age.” Agnes shared that her 2 older children were doing their own laundry and folding their clothes from the age of 8. And now they take full responsibility for cleaning their own bathrooms. And she is confident that they handle all their responsibilities with ease now, only because they have been accustomed to it from an early age.

The 47-year-old mother believes that household chores are a great way to teach children practical life skills and responsibility. She adds that it’s not about making the house super clean, but about allowing them to be involved in the process. Additionally, Agnes says that this method has already instilled good habits in Dashiell, and he is growing up to be an “organized and tidy” boy.

According to Agnes, her youngest son is responsible for cleaning his play area and the place where they eat. She said, “He was taught to clean aged 2 but doesn’t have a set schedule day to day. Initially, it was simple tasks like dusting and vacuuming, but now he is a little older and helps me do a lot of sorting jobs like pairing socks and organizing his toys.”

In the video that Agnes shared on her social media, her son not only vacuums and dusts, but also cleans the toilet. The video received mixed comments from users. Some said it was amazing and that they would also like to have their child do the same. Others called her a “bad mother” for making a young child do such chores around the house.

It is worth noting that on her page, Agnes Hsu wrote that during cleaning, they give her son unbreakable plastic dishes, the mop handle is adjustable to his height, and he uses a handheld vacuum. He only dusts and mops the floors with water, no chemicals. And for toilet disinfection, they have special disposable sticks (which also turn the water blue, and he likes it).