The Finest Redwood & Cedar Play Systems • Visit our expanded showrooms • Now with 3 locations! Call for the one nearest you • Certified playground inspector on staff • Professional installation available • Financing available Old Enough 1.11. 9m/1 For Chores? " PAMELA REDMOND SATRAN SPECIAL TO THE APPLETREE Featuring (248) 348-6100 21043 Brickscape Drive, Northville, MI 48167 • Enter off 8 Mile Rd. Pssst...Have you Herd? EPHANTS! at Cranbrook Institute of Science ELEPHANTS! 40 Million Years of Evolution THE APPLETREE Experience the wild and woolly 1 .erCANBRo -ZM INSTITUTE. OF SCIENCE 1221 N.VVoodward Ave., Bloomfield Hills, MI A few miles north of downtown Birmingham (810) 645-3209 Adulw $7 Children & Seniors: $4 Children under 3:Free Mon.-Thum: I Oam - 5prn Fri. & Sat.: :I Oam - I Opm Sunday: 12 - Spm ELEPHANTS! is made possible by: 4 1__ 1) B BANK . Additional support by: the anatomy and behavior of elephants and their extinct kin. ur middle child just turned 7, and announced that he was ready for a $1 raise in his allowance. My husband and I told him that was fine — as long as he was ready to take on some chores around the house. But we wondered how much he could handle. At 7, he certainly was will- ing to help, and ready to take on the added responsibility, yet we didn't want to burden our young child with chores he would find overwhelming. It's important to choose chores that are appropriate for the age of your child. You want to teach him new skills and help him feel like a useful member of the family, but you don't want to give him jobs that are so difficult he learns to hate work or feels like a failure. One way to find the right jobs for your child and his age level is by trial and error. Most young school-age children I know are ready for regular jobs like making their beds and set- ting the table. But at that age, many children feel over- whelmed by lengthy organiza- tional tasks such as putting away laundry or emptying a dishwasher. My children always liked jobs better when they get to do them their own way. Setting a table, 7-year-old-style, may take half an hour, but it will be fun for the child (and look beauti- ful) if he gets to create artistic placecards and fold napkins into elegant shapes. If you're trying to decide which jobs to assign your own child, one good source is The Portable Pediatrician's Guide to Kids: Your Child's Physical and Behavioral Development from Ages 5 to 12, by Dr. Lau- ra Walther Nathanson, FAAP (HarperPerennial). Dr. Nathanson advises giving 7- and 8-year-olds a maximum of a half hour's worth of chores a day, to be performed at regu- lar times. Not performing a chore, Dr. Nathanson says, should have a well-understood consequence: no television af- ter school, for instance, until the child's bed is made. Here, from The Portable Pe- diatrician's Guide to Kids, is a list of chores a 7- or 8-year-old can handle: APPROPRIATE CHORES • Make his or her bed. • Tidy bedroom. • Set or clean the table. • Dry dishes. • Take out trash. • Dust or vacuum a room. • Polish silverware or unbreak- able items. • Sweep, rake or shovel light snow. • Sort and fold laundry; match socks. • Make a sandwich or toss a salad. Pamela Redmond Satran is a contributing editor of Parenting magazine.