What Is the Point of Chores?

Care and Feeding is Slate's parenting advice column. Have a question for Care and Feeding? Email careandfeeding@slate.com or post it in the Slate Parenting Facebook group. When my oldest was born, my father told me one of his biggest parenting regrets was not assigning regular chores to me and my siblings. I took this advice to heart with my three wonderful boys, now aged 16, 14, and 11. Since the boys were little, they've had some form of daily cleaning responsibility, starting with a "10-minute tidy" with us every evening and, as they got older and ostensibly more responsible, additional age-appropriate chores.