What are some miserable, pointless chores you can give a child as punishment?

Question

My son doesn't seem to be affected by taking things away and getting in major trouble at home. I'm looking for other alternatives to making his life miserable. He's 9.

Answer 1

running the vacuum

cleaning the toilet

cleaning windows

putting away dishes / doing dishes

cleaning refrigerator

shredding the junk mail

sitting still, writing his alphabet forward and backward (repeatedly)

cleaning base boards

folding his own laundry, putting it away

weeding the garden

good luck

Answer 2

raking leaves, setting the table, vacuuming, mopping.

Answer 3

Gosh I hate matching socks….I’d totally pass that one along. But I’m sure they’d be mismatched just the same. That’d be the worst punishment I could give out. LOL.

Honestly, make him cut the grass, rake the yard, take out the garbage.

If he’s being a punk, have you ever looked into the program called Scared Straight/Project Wake up? I don’t know where you live but we had it in Mass when I was a teen. You go to the local jail/prison and have to go through all security measures to meet with a bunch of prisoners. (Chosen through the program) They talk about the choices they COULD have made and SHOULD have made to not end up in this spot. He might be a little young for it, but depending on the types of trouble, you may want to look into it.

I did this twice. And even the punks in my class walked out of there with that look on their face. It was a great lesson to be honest. A bit heavy and a bit detailed, but seriously, I think it’s a great wake up call. Hence the name, Project Wake up!

Answer 4

LOL my daughter is nine too. let me tell you what we made her to when she got into serious trouble.

Scrub all the downstairs baseboards.

Pick up all the dog poo in the back yard and rake it.

Clean the cat box every day for a week.

I remember as a kid my dad made me wash dishes one night because my mother was sick. Apparently I didn't do a very good job (I think I was seven) and a glass came out of the dishwasher with a milk ring in the bottom. He lectured me about clean dishes and sat me at the table with the milk ring glass. He poored milk into the glass and made me drink it! I was horrified and grossed out, but I always got them clean after that when he promised to make me eat or drink out of all the dirty dishes!

Answer 5

make him sweep the driveway/rake leaves, or even better, put spaghetti sauce on a plate, heat it up for a while then leave it sit for a few hours then make him do dishes..terrible to get off.my boyfriend says to put a few glasses (not plastic cups) of milk and leave them out overnight and make him clean them after... really hard to get the white film off. lol

Answer 6

Make him clean the toilet with a toothbrush... lol ... he will behave after that.

Answer 7

i'd have to say pulling weeds is my most hated chore. but i can tell you, i'd have to say, the worst one i ever heard was from my sister.  she was visiting our grandma, and acted up one time too many. well it was fall, so our grandma sent her to pick up the leaves.....i mean pick them up, with her hand, one by one, no rake.  boy was she glad our grandma had a small yard. but she didnt act up again on that vacation, and my mom would threaten us with the same when we got outta hand.  so yeah, it worked.

Answer 8

Cleaning the tile grout with a toothbrush

Hand picking weeds in the lawn

Dusting

Washing and waxing the car

Answer 9

The worst chore ever...cleaning the baseboards, lol. my dad made me do that once as punishment and I still remember how bad I hated it!

Answer 10

Have him rake the grass or leaves, I used to HATE that and being alone made me think about what I did. IT's not pointless b.c he's raking but it worked with me.

Answer 11

Cleaning the bathrooms, doing laundry; the entire families, and doing yard work.  

Answer 12

My father made me stack the wood.  Then take it down and restack it somewhere else.  That was the most pointless chore he ever gave me.  Of course now I get it, but then?  Burned me up.

Answer 13

Picking weeds

clean the baseboards

wipe the door k***s

wipe the light switches

use the edge cleaner attatchement to vacuum all the corners and edges

clean the grout with a toothbrush

clean out the drawers in the bathrooms (toothpaste, hair, whatever)

wipe out the microwave

clean the fridge or freezer