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The Insider’s Guide: 5 Ways to Get to Know the Real Egypt

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Egypt today is unique and endlessly fascinating, and you’ll want to spend some time getting to know the 21st-Century personality of this ancient land. Yes, the pyramids and Sphinx are larger than life and certainly worth a visit. So, too, is the Temple of Karnak, near the site of ancient Thebes. But, forgive us — that’s ancient history.

Here’s how to achieve some balance — and breathe in the true spirit of this modern nation that once represented the center of civilization. Egypt’s modern face is at least as interesting as its past. 

Take a ‘Revolution’ Tour in Cairo

Imagine the passionate clashes between millions of protestors and Egyptian security forces during the 2011 protests that resulted in the overthrow of then-President Hosni Mubarak. Start your walking tour at Tarik Square. Imagine it being filled with thousands of “non-violent” protestors before the scene turned ugly. Dramatic street art on nearby buildings tells the story. The “25 January Revolution” that started here lasted only two weeks and three days, and spread quickly throughout the country before nearly 850 people were killed and 6,000 injured. It’s a sobering experience.

Visit a Koshari Restaurant

These eateries serve only Koshari, a traditional mix of brown lentils with rice and macaroni, topped with a spicy tomato sauce and fried onions. It may be an “acquired taste treat,” but once you’ve had it, you’ll want to have more. That’s almost a guarantee! Also, don’t hesitate to try Egyptian “street food” whenever you can — and sample traditional desserts like Umm Ali, basbousa, or baklava. 

Enjoy a Traditional Cairo Coffee Shop

Strong, sweet and foamy, Egyptian coffee is an experience you won’t want to miss. Even if coffee is not your drink, this thick blend of fine sugar and fragrant coffee beans is a palate-pleaser. Sip it and just watch the throngs of people from a sidewalk table. If you need an energy boost after a day of sightseeing, it’s traditionally served with a side of sugar cubes.

Catch the Sunset at Siwa Oasis

It can be a long drive through the desert, but once you reach Siwa Oasis, it’s a bit like entering heaven. With groves of palm and olive trees, mineral springs, and salt lakes, this is a place to refresh both mind and body. Plan your visit during fall or winter months — summer heat can be brutal. But it is said that Alexander the Great visited here and Cleopatra herself swam in the pool that bears her name. Book a guided safari, but return to your lodgings in time to watch the sunset over the western desert. It’s magical.

Go to the Beach

Sharm El Sheikh is where you’ll find young, modern Egyptians, along with coral reefs, kite surfing, sky-diving, and any number of other active sports adventures. You can also easily book a Sinai safari or a visit to the magnificent St. Catherine’s Monastery from this resort on the Gulf of Aqaba. 

When you visit Egypt, make an effort to talk to the people wherever you go. You’ll find them friendly and willing to tell you about their country’s historic past as well as its future. 

The Insider’s Guide: 5 Ways to Get to Know the Real Greece

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Most visitors arrive in Greece via Athens, and Athens has plenty to offer travelers, from the stunning Acropolis to its lively taverns. It is, after all, known as the birthplace of democracy, and one of the oldest cities on earth. You’ll find great street food and a modern high-speed Metro, with a line that runs directly from the airport to downtown. But it’s a big city with four million people! So, get out of town, and get to know the rest of Greece!

Visit a Quiet Island

The number of inhabited Greek islands is disputed — it’s somewhere between 119 and 227, but only 54 have more than 1,000 residents. To find the “real” Greece, limit your time on Crete, Mykonos, and Santorini, and head instead to a smaller, lesser-known island. Tinos is the third largest of 24 islands that comprise the Cyclades Group. It boasts more than a dozen picturesque mountain villages, along with beautiful beaches, hiking trails, scores of churches, shrines, and monasteries, a tradition of marble crafting, and distinctive dovecotes or pigeon houses. Other unique small islands are Iraklia, Schinoussa, and Andros.

Take a Sail

Greece is an island nation, and there’s no place better to experience it than from the sea. Embrace the symbolism of blue and white, the colors of its flag, as you take a day sail in a blue-hulled boat and watch billowing white sails and the clouds in a blue sky. Book your excursion from any seaside village, or charter a boat to visit the Cyclades Islands, where the law, since 1967, has mandated that whitewashed buildings be trimmed only in blue!=

Eat, Eat, Eat — and Drink

There’s more to Greek food than souvlaki, baklava, and gyros — much more. It’s simple and healthy, prepared with olive oil and loaded with fresh vegetables. Desserts tend to be sweet, honeyed, and delicious! Ouzo, flavored with anise and typically served with water and mezedes (appetizers or finger foods) is the “national drink” of Greece, but you’ll find distinctive wines and strong black coffee everywhere! Be sure to stroll an open market and sample street food!

Enroll in a Cooking Class

Take some of Greece home with you, in the form of new recipes and the confidence to prepare taste-tempting meals for friends and family. There’s a wealth of opportunity, from gourmet instruction and a rooftop dinner with a view of the Acropolis in Athens to a small-group class taught by a Greek “grandma” in a family kitchen on one of the Greek islands. It will be a lasting, usable memory with meaning. 

Celebrate!

Celebrations are part of everyday life in Greece. There are so many celebrations — religious and otherwise throughout the year — that you’re not likely to miss the fun. Party like a Greek during the celebration of Epiphany on January 6, at Carnival in February or March, Independence Day on March 25, Easter, World Heritage Day on April 18, the various panigiria — holy days that celebrate various patron saints, OXI Day on October 28, or during Christmas season. A bonus is free admission to museums and historical sites on many of the holidays.

5 Celebrities Who Were Homeschooled

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Homeschooling is becoming more popular every year. Some families embrace homeschooling to keep their kids away from mainstream culture. Others gravitate toward this option because they want to explore different modes of learning. There are as many reasons for homeschooling as there are homeschooling families. 

But can homeschooling lead to fame and success? For these five celebrities, it certainly might have. Here are five music, sports, and movie stars who were homeschooled. 

1. Christina Aguilera

As a child, Aguilera went to a traditional school. Then, she was schooled by a tutor on the set of the Mickey Mouse Club. But she returned to public school after she left the series. The experience wasn’t positive — Christina endured a lot of teasing from her classmates.

She begged her parents to be homeschooled, and they reluctantly agreed for her teenage years. Shortly after graduating from her homeschool classes, she launched her award-winning music career. Nobody can tease this star now.

2. Ryan Gosling

As a young kid, Ryan struggled a lot with traditional education. Due to severe dyslexia, he couldn’t read at the age of 10, and his ADHD made it hard to sit still and pay attention. His mom decided to homeschool him, and two years later, he got a job as an actor on the Mickey Mouse Club.

His career has been going hard since then, and he’s one of the few child stars who were able to be successful as an adult. Ryan claims that his homeschooling years gave him a sense of autonomy that he has never really lost. 

3. Blake Griffin

This star basketball player was the number one overall pick in the NBA Draft. He played with the LA Clippers for nine seasons and went to the Detroit Pistons in 2018. Then, in 2021, he joined the Brooklyn Nets.

Blake was homeschooled in elementary and middle school. He started school in high school so that he could join the basketball team. The rest is history. 

4. Venus and Serena Williams

As chronicled in a recent biopic about their lives, the Williams sisters started focusing on tennis at very young ages. Their parents were the driving force in their success, and to give their daughters as much time as possible to practice, the Williams homeschooled the girls from a very young age. As they got older, their flexible homeschooling schedule allowed them to compete in matches around the world. 

5. Billie Eilish

As an 18-year-old, Billie Eilish took home five Grammys, and her career has been on fire since then. Eilish never went to a traditional school. Both she and her older brother were homeschooled. Eilish has Tourettes and an auditory processing disorder, so her parents knew that a traditional classroom probably wouldn’t work for her. Her parents also wanted to give Billie and her brother time to explore their passions, and based on the siblings’ musical success, the strategy worked splendidly. 

5 TV Law Shows From Most To Least Realistic

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Lawyers may be among the world’s most-hated professionals, but they sure make for good television. 

Whether you watch for the suspenseful courtroom scenes or tune in for a glimpse into the dramatic lives of high-powered lawyers, you’ve got your pick of programs to choose from. 

But while TV law shows may be entertaining, they’re not necessarily accurate. In fact, some people might argue that the less realistic a show is, the more fun it is to watch. 

Which begs the question: Which TV law shows reflect the truth, and which might be found guilty of misrepresentation in a court of law?

Read on for a roundup of 5 of our favorite TV shows ranked from most to least realistic.

1. Better Call Saul

If you’re not familiar with the legal profession, you may be surprised to find this Breaking Bad spinoff at the top of the list. However, insiders insist that its depiction of the legal industry is on the money thanks to storylines that are mostly accurate and believable.

Law firm partner Jordan Rothman says of Better Call Saul, “It’s hard to relate all of the instances in which the show accurately depicts the practice of law. ”

2. Law & Order

It’s not surprising that this iconic television drama has a place toward the top of this list. The original Law & Order, aired for a decade, followed by several spinoffs with varying degrees of longevity and popularity.  

Set in New York City, Law & Order portrays the law from two different perspectives: the NYPD’s investigation of a crime, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office’s prosecution of the case. 

In addition to its unique viewpoint, Law & Order is also well-known for something else: it’s “ripped from the headlines” plot lines inspired by real-world cases. 

3. The Practice

While its predecessor, Ally McBeal, may have been known for its unbelievable antics (dancing baby hallucinations, anyone?), The Practice is one of the more realistic television portrayals of law life. 

Following the interactions and experiences of lawyers at a Boston law firm primarily handling criminal defense cases, The Practice doesn’t just address cases from a legal standpoint that pays meticulous attention to procedure and conduct, but also from an ethical one as the lawyers often end up wrangling with their own consciences. 

Furthermore, while many legal dramas take place at large prestigious firms, The Practice presents a realistic view of a smaller, struggling firm.

4. Suits

This USA Network show begins with the unlikely premise of a college dropout genius scamming his way to a position at an elite NYC law firm. From there, it doesn’t get much more realistic.  

According to law firm Orsus Gate, Suits “presents numerous fictions about what lawyers do and how they work,” including that attorneys randomly drop into the offices of opposing counsel, the use of a few “magic words” that lead to dramatic results, and the fast-moving judicial process.

Additionally, while Suits frequently depicts attorneys pouring over case law in the firm library, the majority of legal research takes place online. 

While these falsehoods may be entertaining, they can also lead to warped perceptions and unreasonable expectations about legal procedures, according to Orsus Gate.  

5. Ally McBeal

And that brings us to the aforementioned Ally McBeal. 

While this show was a huge hit—and made Calista Flockhart a household name—when it debuted in the late 1990s, its success had nothing to do with its realistic portrayal of the law. From the super-short hemlines to week after week of outlandish cases, Ally McBeal was sensationalism at its best. 

Oddball characters like John Cage and his “wattle fetish,” fantasy sequences, insane plot lines in which lawyers go undercover, and romantic entanglements rivaling a game of musical chairs are just a few of the reasons Ally McBeal has the distinction of being the #1 least realistic law show on this list. 

The 5 Best 80s Computers

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The popularity of shows, like Stranger Things, has brought all the retro goodness of the 80s back into conversation. Music, Dungeons and Dragons, and even the nostalgia for movie rental stores has gained popularity. All of the retro conversations have Generation X basking in the nostalgia and younger generations enjoying the novelty.

Nothing was more 80s than the personal computer. The 1980s were the first time that the average person could buy a computer for home use. Families across the US and the entire world flocked to stores to jump into the future with a home computing system. And we have fond memories of our very first computers. We talk about the types of word processing available and the computer games we all played. Even pong, a pretty basic game by today’s digital standards, is something we remember well.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane, pinpoint the five best computers of the 80s, and find out why people loved them so much.

5 Best 80s Computers

In the 80s, computers were the newest craze. The idea of being able to log on to your own computer, in your home, was basically the newest fad. But it’s one that stuck around and evolved over time. 

Parents thought it was the wave of the future for their kids (and they were right). And kids wanted to play the latest games without going to an arcade. 

Here are the five best 80s computers and why they made our list:

IBM PC 

We can’t compile a list of 80s computers without the IBM PC. This was the granddaddy of them all. Also called the IBM Personal Computer Model 5150, this model was released in 1981. It was the model that began the whole personal computer revolution. Think of it as the Cadillac of computers. It had all the bells and whistles, the best technology of the time, and, of course, a very high price tag. Saying you had this computer gave people the impression that 1. you knew computers, and 2. you could afford quality.

Apple IIe

Who doesn’t know Apple? That fun logo wasn’t just on Macs back in the day. It all started with the Apple series and the Apple IIe was the most popular model. It was also the longest-running and last model with the Apple name before the company switched to Macintosh. The Apple IIe was affordable but still well built. There was no shame in telling your friends you just got a “two e”.

Commodore 64

The Commodore 64 was one of the best-selling computers of all time. It was faster, had better storage capabilities, and was more affordable than many models. The popularity alone made this a good model to have. Most people were familiar with the Commodore.

Compaq

What was so great about the Compaq? It was billed as completely IBM-PC compatible, but at a fraction of the price. And that sales point made it a super popular model. After all, who doesn’t want the bells and whistles of the best-ranked computer, at a much lower cost?

Macintosh 

Of course, Macintosh had to make the list. After all, Macs are still one of the most popular computers on the market today. Yes, Apple gets two mentions, but we’re talking about computers, so that fits. 

The 80s was the beginning of the personal computer craze. It was the foundation for how we work and play and these five models started it all.

5 Fundamentals of Good Skincare

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Let’s face it: Not everyone was blessed with naturally beautiful glowing skin. Most of us have to work for it. 

But with the myriad of creams, serums, balms, exfoliators, rollers, lights, and other products out there … it’s hard to know what actually works.

Below, we’ve outlined 5 fundamental tips for good skincare. These are the tried and true tips — the tips you need when all others fail, the first tips you should learn if you are a total skincare newbie, the tips that will make you look your best. 

Let’s get started. 

1. Wear sunscreen every day. 

The simple act of wearing an SPF every day can keep some of the most common skin issues at bay. It will prevent fine lines and wrinkles, sun spots and aging spots, sunburn, and (most importantly) skin cancer.

If you don’t like the idea of applying a separate SPF product every morning, consider purchasing a moisturizer that has sunscreen already in it. Most dermatologists recommend an SPF of 50 or higher for the face.

2. Always wash your face at night.

Although it probably often seems easier to just go to sleep without washing your face, don’t make this mistake. This is especially true if you wear makeup.

Leaving your makeup on all night can clog your pores, exacerbate acne, and cause other skin issues. If you just hate washing your face at night, consider purchasing some makeup remover wipes, which are easier and faster to use. 

Even for those who don’t wear makeup, it’s still important to wash your face before bed as sweat, oils, and pollution from the day can build up and also cause skin issues. Even just giving your face a quick splash or two with cool water is better than doing nothing.

3. Cleanse and moisturize morning and night.

If you only do two things to your face every day (other than applying sunscreen), make them cleansing and moisturizing. You need to do this every morning and every night.

You don’t need fancy cleansers and moisturizers. In fact, you want something quite simple that your skin can rely on. Take a look at what type of skin you have (dry, combination, or oily), and find a simple cleanser and a simple moisturizer that are made for that type of skin. 

Give these initial products a try, and if they don’t work, move on to other products until you find a cleanser and moisturizer you like. 

4. Periodically exfoliate.

Once or twice a week, use an exfoliator. Do not use an exfoliator sponge or brush, and do not use an exfoliating cleanser with microbeads. Use a chemical exfoliant — a skincare product with exfoliating properties. One with AHA or BHA as the main active ingredient will work best.

5. Change your skincare with the seasons.

Finally, keep in mind that you should switch skincare products and routines as the seasons change. Our skin tends to be drier in the winter and more oily in the summer, so adjust your products accordingly. 

You may also want to skip using your cleanser in the mornings when it’s winter. Your skin shouldn’t need it, and that extra cleanse can be extra drying.

As you can see, most people don’t need fancy serums, expensive injections, and special lights to have a strong, solid skincare routine. What it’s really all about is a few simple products, consistency, and trial and error when necessary. Whether you’re new to the world of skincare or just want to get back to the basics, use these fundamentals to build a skincare routine you can feel good about.

5 Surprising Benefits Of Reading

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Reading can be a relaxing way to while away an afternoon. Or it can be a grueling intellectual exercise. Whether you’re diving into the latest beach read or exploring the intricacies of James Joyce or Fyodor Dostoevsky, reading offers many cognitive benefits. Take a look at the surprising ways that reading can improve your mind and your life.

1. More brain connections. 

Your brain has more neurons than the number of stars you can see in the sky at night. When you learn anything, your brain makes connections between the neurons, and each neuron can have thousands of connections. As you develop and use these connections, they become stronger, and your brain learns how to think more effectively.

Reading creates more connections between your neurons. While reading, your brain activity increases, but brain connections also increase in the days after you read. This makes your brain more elastic and more effective. In other words, you learn while you read, but reading also helps to create a brain that is more receptive to learning in general.

2. Stress reduction. 
The reason reading feels relaxing is because it is. If someone reads for 30 minutes, their blood pressure, heart rate, and stress levels go down. In fact, research indicates that reading helps to reduce stress just as much as yoga or humor.

That doesn’t mean you should read instead of exercising or laughing. It just means that reading can be a critical component of a healthy lifestyle. Pick up a funny book and laugh along the way — then, you’ll get the stress reduction benefits of both reading and humor. Or read a funny book while in a yoga pose and triple your dose of stress-reducing fun.

3. Knowledge enhancement

If you want to learn about anything, there’s probably a book out there that can help you. You can read about everything from world history to cooking or training a hawk, and a million points in between. But even if you just read fiction, you can still learn about different people or different time periods. You can also get a lot of insights into human behavior.

4. Increased empathy

You don’t have to pick up heavy tomes full of weighty subjects like science and history to get cognitive benefits from reading. Even light fiction offers a lot of benefits. In particular, when you dive into a different world, you get to know people and places that are different from the world around you. This helps to improve your emotional intelligence. As you learn more about how different people engage with the world, you will expand your empathy and compassion.

5. Expanded vocabulary

Regardless of what you read about, you will likely learn new words or new ways to use old words. This is especially true if you read about topics you don’t know much about, read high literature or read books from different time periods. Generally, because the words are used in context, you don’t necessarily even have to look them up. You’ll essentially absorb them and their meanings due to natural language processing.

Want to learn more about the benefits of reading? Then, open a book and dive in. You’ll learn more, improve your brain, and potentially even live longer.

5 Visual Principles For Photographers and Artists

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Art is clearly subjective. One critic may think a piece is the best they’ve ever seen, while another may think it’s the worst. But aside from the subjective elements, there are also clear principles that underlie compelling visual artworks. Whether you’re shooting photographs, painting, drawing, or exploring other types of visual arts, you should understand the visual principles that draw in viewers and make your piece exciting. Take a look at these five visual principles every artist should know.

1. Patterns

People are naturally drawn to patterns. Patterns help people to make sense of their world, and this applies to the visual arts as well as to life in general.

Patterns create a sense of familiarity. They can harmonize distinct elements in a photograph or painting. They can also highlight elements that disrupt or vary from the main pattern of the artwork.

2. Balance

Whether you’re using a repeating pattern or a number of different images, visual artworks need balance. Balance refers to the visual weight of the objects, colors, textures, and other elements in your artwork. For instance, imagine you shoot a photo using the rule of thirds so that the beach, the ocean, and the sky each take up a third of the photo. These visual elements are equally weighted. They create balance in the photo.

A well-balanced piece can make viewers feel calm, but you can also play with balance in a way that creates a visual disruption or purposeful dissonance. For example, you fill a canvas with light colors and then place a very dark-colored object in the corner of the photo. The dark-colored object is unbalanced, and this draws the viewer’s eye to it.

3. Color

Color significantly influences how people perceive visual artworks. Colors can set the emotional tone of a photograph or painting. Different colors can highlight elements of a piece through the use of contrast, or similar tones and colors can create a smooth transition between multiple elements. The absence of color or use of black-and-white or grayscale can also create a strong visual effects.

4.Light and shadows

The way you use shadows and lights also helps to create the visual composition of an artwork. Shadows can create intrigue or drama. They can also help to emphasize the light and draw attention to well-lit areas of the piece. Light and shadows create balance, and they show the viewer where to move their eyes when looking at a piece.

5. Negative space

When you create a visual piece of art, you don’t have to fill in every part of the artwork. Instead, you may leave some spaces blank. This is called negative space, and it helps to draw attention to the most important aspects of the piece. Negative space can include blurred background when you want to highlight something in the foreground.

If you have multiple subjects in a piece, the negative space is the area around them. Ideally, negative space shouldn’t be something that you create after capturing the image. Instead, it should be something you consider when you first start creating the space.

Reading about and playing with different visual elements will help you improve as a photographer, painter, or sketch artist. But it can also help with sculpture, filmmaking, and any other type of visual art. The more you learn about the visual principles of art, the more you will pick up on these elements in other people’s artwork. Then, you can optimize these elements in your own artistic endeavors.

How to deal with predators on your homestead

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If your homestead is in a fairly rural area and if you have animals, you are very likely to have predators. Even if you are an urban homesteader, you could still have some predators lurking about. Here’s what you need to know about dealing with predators on your homestead.

Types of Predators on a Homestead

There are many different types of predators that can invade a homestead and wreak havoc. The types depend largely on your geographic area. Certain predators tend to be more prevalent in some areas more than others.

  • Coyotes – A single coyote will tend to go after animals that are small to medium-sized, including livestock like lambs, ducks, young goats, chickens, and pigs. However, a pack may target larger animals like adult goats and cattle.
  • Bobcats  – Bobcats are somewhat larger than a housecat, but they are still rather small compared to other wild cats. They are nocturnal hunters and tend to prey on whatever happens to be nearby such as sheep, poultry, goats, rabbits, and even small pets. Bobcat attacks often leave just the body of poultry with the head missing. Other prey will have claw marks and bite marks on the head and body.
  • Raccoons – Raccoons are way too smart for their own good. They can open simple locks and open unlocked doors. They usually leave plenty of evidence that they have been there, leaving body parts of animals scattered about, especially in the chicken coop which is where their prey of choice is contained.
  • Foxes – Foxes attack quickly and with very little warning so they rarely leave much if any evidence behind. They typically prey on poultry, rabbits, young livestock, and rodents, but will also invade a henhouse and crack the eggs, licking the inside and leaving just the shells.
  • Hawks – Hawks hunt from the air and tend to prey upon smaller animals like chickens, rabbits, ducks, and even small dogs and cats. They will watch from tree tops or as they glide high in the air and then swoop down to suddenly snatch up their prey.
  • Owls – Owls are nocturnal hunters so poultry is fairly safe as long as they are put up at dusk. Owls may also go after snakes and rodents which can be beneficial to the homestead. However, they do hunt small pets like cats and dogs as well.
  • Weasels – Weasels will kill for food, but they also kill for sport, stacking the bodies of their prey often after decapitating them. They are persistent and will continue attacking animals on a homestead until they have no animals left to prey on, they get bored, or they are scared away. And chicken wire does not deter them.
  • Opossums – Of all homestead predators, opossums are probably the laziest. They usually won’t attack anything unless it is very easy such as an animal that is injured, sick, or very young. They can spread the neurological disease equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) to animals by leaving their feces on the property and livestock eating it. In rare cases, the disease can be transmitted via opossum bite.

Deterring Predators on Your Homestead

The best way to deter predators on your homestead is by using a multi-deterrent approach. For instance, get a couple of dogs to guard your place, and have a high, secure fence you can keep predators out.

Electrified fencing either wire or net can help keep predators out. Fladry, a wire fence that has red flags attached to it works well for wolves and coyotes. Guardian animals work quite well and they extend beyond the Great Pyrannese canine to include donkeys, geese, mini-donkeys, and llamas.

You can also use flashing lights and noise devices as long as they are not continuous and are moved often. Painting predator eyes on your barn roof or the roof of your chicken coop can deter aerial predators like hawks and owls.

Keep all young animals and poultry in a predator proof area at night. When an animal gives birth on your property, quickly clean up the area and get the biological waste off your property – the same goes for animals that die on your property. Remove them or bury them.

Do not leave dog food and cat food out at night and don’t put meat, dairy, and eggs in your compost. Keep your garbage tightly closed, preferably in a locked area. And make sure that all locks are two-step locks to deter clever, curious raccoons.

It is possible to greatly reduce the presence of predators on your homestead. You may have to try a few things to find out what works, but eventually you should find the right combination.

Building Responsibility: How To Motivate Kids To Do Household Chores

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Struggling to keep up with work around the house? Want to get your kids to take on a larger role in doing their part to keep things clean? If you’re struggling to motivate your kids to do their chores, you’re not alone. Here, we’ve compiled a list of some top tips to get your kids to pitch in. 

Do It With Them

There’s no need for your kids to do all of their chores on their own. Your child might enjoy doing their chores with you. For example, putting away laundry as soon as your child folds it can be a great way to get something done together while also taking some time to catch up. Drying dishes after they wash them can also be a fun way to incorporate teamwork into a daily chore routine. 

Make a Schedule

There’s no right or wrong way to make a chore schedule. The key, no matter what schedule you choose, is consistency. Writing out a weekly chore list can help your child stay aware of what chores are expected each day. Posting the list in a place they pass often (such as on the fridge or on their bedroom door) can help to ensure that they stay on top of what needs to be done. 

Consider Incentives

It’s up to you whether you think your child should earn an allowance for doing chores. Instead of providing kids with money for chores, some parents allow kids to exchange their chores for screen time or other special activities. If you do decide that you’d like to give your kid an allowance, you might want to think about giving it only for going above and beyond (completing additional optional chores after their bottom-line chores are complete). 

If your child is too young to understand the concept of an allowance, giving them stickers each time they do a chore can also be effective. If you’re feeling fancy, create a sticker chart for your child to place their stickers on, and after they get a certain number of stickers, allow them to participate in a special activity or win a special prize. Give your child the chance to choose the incentive themselves, and see how creative they can be with their reward. 

Compliment Your Kids

It can be tough for kids to get the hang of a new chore, and it’s important that you compliment their efforts no matter what the outcome. If there’s an issue that’s easily fixable (such as a shirt that was put away inside out), quickly show your child how to fix it. If the issue is more complicated (such as not mowing the grass in a pattern), take some time next time the chore rolls around to show your child how to do it correctly, while also complimenting them on how hard they tried the last time.