This parent meant business.
A man’s list of chores he was given as a child has gone viral, highlighting the significant differences in parenting styles between then and now.
Shared on Instagram threads, the post, with 1.6 million views, read “My dad sent me my chore list from when I was a kid.. this s–t started at 8 years old… my pop was the coolest man on earth but he had hella structure & rules in the house” alongside a screenshot of an extreamley detailed list of chores that took up two pages.
If you look closely, you can see that this dad typed out tasks for his son, including things for him to do before school, after school, and on specific days of the week.
Chores like making the bed as soon as the teen wakes up, leaving the house for school by a specific time, taking out the trash, and doing laundry.
While some parents of today would think that treating a child like an employee is a bit much, many of the comments on the post praised this dad for running a tight ship.
“THIS is what is missing in a lot of households these days. As a parent our jobs are to prepare our children for REAL LIFE. All these chores are what I had in addition to pulling weeds, cutting the lawn and looking after my horse. Integrity and work ethic is EXACTLY what this is teaching along with skill building.”
“Love how im doing 1/3 of this to my 8 yo too. trust me ive seen humans in their 30s let their mom do the laundry manually.”
“I love your dad for this structure and responsibility. I also love that dad wrote this! This kind of structure is missing these days in a lot of households…it explains a lot.”
“God. I wish my parents laid it out for me like this. Now at 19 living with my fiance, I struggle with cleanliness!”
“It is what is part of what is missing today. Structure. Accountability.”
Rather than taking this approach, many of today’s parents would rather “gentle parent” their offspring, which is a controversial approach that enforces boundaries without yelling and lets children “feel” their emotions, which in turn could lead to tantrums, meltdowns and youngsters not listening to parents’ rules.
One mother shared how she regrets gentle parenting her young ones.
“I validated every emotion, processed feelings extensively, explained every boundary, compromised on things, avoided harsh punishments,” she wrote in a social media post. “I thought I was doing it right.”
As a result, this mom said she raised anxious, insecure and entitled children.
“I wasn’t actually doing gentle parenting… I had slipped into permissive parenting without realizing it,” she wrote.
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