Twenty years too late

Remember when Mom used to roll out that chart of y'all's chores for the week, and you used to moan and groan about it? Well, there's scientific proof that she was doing you ingrates a favor, even if it did come 20 years too late. 

 

For example, three doctors [1] from the University of Virginia Children's Hospital (Go Hoos!) analyzed data from almost 10,000 children entering kindergarten in 2010 to 2011. The kids' parents reported how often their children did chores. When the kids were in the third grade, they responded to a questionnaire regarding their perceived interest or competence in academics, peer relationships, prosocial behavior, and life satisfaction. They also completed direct academic assessments for reading, math, and science. The doctors analyzed the data and found, among other things, that "[t]he frequency of chores in kindergarten was positively associated with a child's perception of social, academic, and life satisfaction competencies in the third grade, independent of sex, family income, and parent education," and that "[p]erforming chores with any frequency in kindergarten was associated with improved math scores in the third grade." This led the UVA docs to conclude that "performing chores in early elementary school was associated with later development of self-competence, prosocial behavior, and self-efficacy."

 

Another study [2] from La Trobe University in Victoria, Australia asked parents and guardians of more than 200 5-to-13-year-old children to complete questionnaires on their kids' engagement in household chores and executive functioning. The authors concluded that engagement in both self-care and family-care chores "significantly predicted working memory and inhibition, after controlling for the influence of age, gender, and presence or absence of a disability."

 

An article in Psychology Today summarized these studies (plus a third) as demonstrating that "kids who have regular chores do better in school, have higher life satisfaction, and better know how to care for themselves." In short, "[t]he evidence is fairly clear: Chores are good for kids." 

 

So, if anything, Mom should have given you more chores. Be sure and tell her thank you. 

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[1]  White EM, DeBoer MD, Scharf RJ. Associations Between Household Chores and Childhood Self-Competency. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2019 Apr;40(3):176-182. doi: 10.1097/DBP.0000000000000637. PMID: 30507727.

 

[2] Tepper DL, Howell TJ, Bennett PC. Executive functions and household chores: Does engagement in chores predict children's cognition? Aust Occup Ther J. 2022 Oct;69(5):585-598. doi: 10.1111/1440-1630.12822. Epub 2022 May 31. PMID: 35640882; PMCID: PMC9796572.

 

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There's no shortage of muffin recipes on UaKS, but Mom and Brad both said these are worth having regularly. They are similar to the Loaded GF Superhero Muffins I posted in April, but they taste better, have a nicer texture, and aren't as sweet. We liked having them in our lunches, so I can understand why the original recipe is named "Lunchbox Harvest Muffins." I streamlined the recipe to make it in one bowl, so it's pretty quick and easy, even with having to grate the apple, carrot, and zucchini, which doesn't take long anyway.  

 

Harvest Muffins

Adapted from Melissa Clark via NYT Cooking (Aug. 13, 2025)

Time: ~36 minutes total (~16 minutes to get the muffins into the oven)

Clark says "you can vary the vegetables as the seasons change. Or, in a pinch, use all carrots, if that’s what you’ve got on hand."
 

2 large eggs (~57 grams each unshelled)
100 grams (scant ½ cup) olive oil
21 grams (1 tablespoon) honey
70 grams (~⅓ cup) brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
1 small apple, grated, with juices (50 grams / ½ cup)
50 grams (½ cup) grated carrots or parsnips (see note)
50 grams (½ cup) grated zucchini or beets (see note)
55 grams (⅓ cup) raisins or dried cranberries or cherries
40 grams (½ cup) unsweetened shredded coconut (except for Cass)
140 grams (1⅛ cups) whole wheat pastry flour

    1. Place a rack in the center of the oven; heat to 350 degrees. Pam-spray or otherwise grease a regular muffin tin or 2 mini-muffin tins.
    2. Crack the eggs into a large bowl; whisk just to break them up a bit.
    3. Whisk in the oil, honey, and brown sugar.
    4. Sprinkle over the baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; whisk in until thoroughly combined.
    5. Using a silicone spatula, stir in the grated vegetables, dried fruit, and coconut.
    6. Gently stir in the flour.
    7. Fill each muffin cup about ¾ of the way up (a ¼-cup cookie scoop works well for this job for a regular muffin tin). You may only need 11 of the wells of a regular muffin tin.
    8. Bake until the muffins are golden brown and delicious and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 to 20 minutes for regular muffins or about 15 minutes for mini muffins.
    9. Transfer to a cooking rack, still in the tin(s), and let cool for 5 minutes, then turn out of the tin(s). Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes about 2 dozen mini muffins or about 11 regular muffins. These will last several days in the fridge, or you can freeze the mini muffins and just pull them out as needed; the small ones will defrost quickly.