My homemaking-maven Mother taught us
four girls all sorts of skills inside and outside the home. Where
she left off, my Dad took up on the work detail. Thus, we were all
rather well-versed on how to spend your Saturdays in what we
considered hard labor. *chuckles* I really had fabulous childhood.
But the thing I appreciate now is not only that I enjoyed a loving,
adventure-filled, fond-memory childhood, but that it was a practical
proving ground. Maybe that is why Cinderella is my favorite princess
– she was a hard worker with lots of skills.
So here's a look at the
Cinderella-schedule at our house . . .
(The 'or' chores listed below refer to a rotation at our house - one week you're on dishes, the next week you're on garbages. The dishes-doer dusts and the garbage-emptier gets to vacuum)
Daily:
make bed
pack lunch
practice piano
do dishes or empty kitchen garbage &
recycling
Weekly:
launder and put away clothes
vacuum or dust house
clean bathroom
clean kitchen sink
various 'Saturday chores'
cook dinner
clean room
change sheets
These are just the routine chores that
I'm hoping will be somewhat built-in by the time they leave home. As
it is, there is still plenty of griping, even if these routines have
been in place for years. Also, it should be mentioned that teaching
your kids to clean the house is infinitely more taxing than cleaning
yourself. Not to mention the fact that you have to live with a
certain level of, how shall I say it, sub-par workmanship. That is
the biggest challenge for me as a 'type A' personality Mom.
*slightly chagrinned* That is why I have the kids clean the house
at the beginning of the week, and I'll clean it towards the end of
the week. That is the compromise of a 'control-conscious'
personality that I can live with. So there you have it, that is our base-line system of operation. Guess that makes me Cinderella's evil step-mother. I can only hope that my kids grow up to raise their own Cinderellas!
Do your kids get allowance at all? How do you define "clean your room". Their clothes don't get to sit on their floor all week long do they? We're struggling big time with Mia and trying to figure out what's going to work to get her to do ANYTHING. And they really do their own laundry? How many things have gotten ruined? I'm such a laundry nazi...I don't even let Mike do it. I like Gina's question about the age thing too...at what age do you teach what? I read a great book about it once and she had an awesome list. The Parenting Breakthrough I think it was called.
ReplyDeleteAllowance: yes, a very minimal amount mainly to teach them how to save money in a bank account and pay tithing on a regular basis. Also, it is revoked or reduced when they destroy things in the house (piano books take the most abuse). :) I don't tie it directly to their weekly chores because they need to learn that work is something we do Just Because. It expands as they age and pay for more of their own expenses (pay for part of school clothes, buy presents for friend's b-day parties, etc.)
ReplyDeleteAs for Laundry - yes, things get ruined. I have had to make the decision that teaching my kids a skill is ultimately more important than a pristine or perfect end result. So yes, they end up looking like waifs a certain amount of the time, but at least they are getting practice at the skills they inevitably will called on to use. I'll do a laundry post soon. Also, a starting-age post soon too! Thanks for your interest and feedback!