Help me out - home responsibilities
Find out more about dealing with responsibilities as you grow up.
Growing up
Growing up is great – you are becoming more independent, you have your own opinions and you can make some of your own decisions. However, all these come with responsibility – and being responsible isn’t always easy.
Here’s our guide to being responsible at home...Â
1. Pushing boundaries vs building trust
As you start to push the boundaries, build trust between you and your parents; it makes it easier for them to give you more freedom. Respect their boundaries and the trust will grow. So whether it’s looking after siblings, walking the dog or tidying your room – being reliable and managing new situations proves that they can trust you.
2. Be independent
Nobody likes washing up, taking the bins out or folding clothes. The positive spin is that all these tasks are life skills and the more you do them the more they prepare you for being an independent adult. Try and see chores as a way of building trust at home and skills for the future.
3. Manage your time
It can be a challenge to organise yourself if there are lots of demands on your time. Draw up a timetable to help you separate your time into manageable chunks. It’s important to allow free time to do the things you enjoy. If you feel like you can’t cope with the amount you have to do, then speak to your parents and figure it out together.
4. Give and take
Some chores are boring and you may dread them. But let’s face it, the adults in your life probably do a lot for you, so it’s only fair you do stuff for them in return. It might not be the most exciting part of your day, but getting chores out of the way means you can focus on being free to enjoy your spare time.
Young carers
Being a young carer can be especially challenging. Looking after a family member is a big responsibility and can be stressful and isolating. You may have conflicting feelings about your situation and feel left out of what other young people and your friends are doing.
Although you may be caring for someone else, it’s really important to make sure that you are supported too:
Tell your school that you are a young carer; they may be able to help you with organising your homework to make it more manageable.
Talk to someone. Your school may have a counsellor or a guidance teacher who can talk to you in confidence and help you process your feelings.
Find out if there are other young carers at your school. There might even be a young carer’s support group. If not, then think about starting one.
Take time to see friends without feeling guilty and find activities that you enjoy. Try and have a balance of work and play so being a young carer doesn’t take over your life.
There are organisations that run Young Carers' clubs - see if there’s one near you.
For information about organisations which can offer more advice on a range of issues, check out the advice helplines page.
Get more tips in the Lifebabble guide to family, find out how Saima copes with responsibilities, or tell us what's so great about growing up.