A common trend in Saratoga nowadays is that parents take on household chores — washing dishes, cleaning, taking out the trash, cooking, laundry — so that their kids have more time to focus on their education.

This isn’t to say that kids have no idea how to do chores at all; rather, it suggests that many don’t have much experience with chores they will inevitably need to tackle after high school.

Sooner or later, teens are going to have to learn how to do their chores, whether they like it or not. While they can rely on the assistance of their parents for now, teens will have to be independent once they go to college. Even if they have roommates, the chores are split up.

One of the biggest problems with starting chores too late in life is that there are nuances to be learned within each distinct task. For example, when washing a small amount of dishes, teens might learn to use the residue soap at the tip of the detergent bottle instead of trying to squeeze out the perfect amount of detergent and potentially ending up with too much.

Just like with any other skill, no one is going to be able to do  chores perfectly on their first few attempts. These attempts serve as learning experiences for future endeavors. It’s much better to make mistakes doing chores under parental  supervision rather than later on.

With practice, teens will inevitably develop a new level of familiarity that allows them to do their chores more efficiently and with less agony involved.

Additionally, when teens do chores, they begin introducing positive habits into their lives. For example, they might develop the habit of washing the dishes immediately after eating dinner, or taking out the trash by themselves once they notice the bag getting a bit full. In a more general sense, these habits help build teens’ discipline, while discouraging the development of bad habits in the long term.

Another relevant side effect of doing chores is that it alleviates pressure from siblings and parents and can help improve familial relations, fostering appreciation for the work teens often take for granted.

Just like how doing 97 SAT practice tests is meant to prepare students for the future, learning to do chores has the same intention. Although parents may believe more emphasis should be placed on education, life skills are equally important for success in adult life.

In the end, chores are inevitable tasks that we all must face eventually. They don’t even take that long; washing the dishes usually won’t take more than a half hour. Taking out the trash isn’t exactly a lengthy process either. At the cost of a few minutes out of their day, doing chores early on can have many benefits for teens in the long term.