Thursday, June 26, 2014

What a Chore

Alyssa has been asking recently if there are any chores she can do around the house to earn either money or computer time.

I like the idea of her earning screen time rather than just letting her sit in front of the computer or her tablet for hours one end.

While visiting friends last weekend, I heard our host tell one of her kids it was time to put the dishes away. Eureka! I’d never even thought of that as a job for Alyssa. Duh. She’s absolutely tall enough and strong enough to do something like that.

It got me thinking about what else she can do around the house.

Folding towels doesn’t take a high school diploma. Last night, she folded and put away two loads of towels.

I suggested she could vacuum every few days (let’s not get carried away with the idea of vacuuming every single day now) and Alyssa replied, “But I’m not good a vacuuming.”

I told her, “The only way to get better is to practice.”

She wasn’t amused.

She also wasn’t amused when Tom told her she could help him weed the garden. He wasn’t kidding though and this weekend may be her first venture out there. I should take pictures/video because I’m betting she won’t have nearly as much fun as she did yesterday when she was folding towels.

We don’t count feeding her cat and fish as time/money earning chores. Those are things we expect her to do simply because he animals depend on her. Well, to be honest, they depend on me or Tom reminding her to take care of them but let’s not nitpick, okay?

I’d have her wash the dishes but Tom’s not sure she’s ready. Heck, he’s not sure I’m ready for the monumental task of washing dishes and I always tell him he’s more than welcome to do them all himself, to which he replies, “No, I’ll let you keep practicing.”

He’s all heart.

I think my biggest problem with handing over household chores to Alyssa that, quite honestly, it’s always just been easier to do them myself than to teach her the way I want them done and then nag her until they get done.

But I’m realizing that I’m doing her no favors by parenting this way. She needs to learn this stuff and being helpful and needed is important to us all. So this weekend, she’ll get a basket of her clothes, freshly washed and dried which she can then fold and put away all by herself.

Ask for chores in our house and you shall receive them.

What chores am I missing? What do your kids do around the house that I could assign to my eleven year old daughter? Or hey, let’s go all out. What can I have my seven year old do to help out too?

1 comment:

Julie said...

Riley is responsible for cleaning her room, her bathroom and the playroom. She also unloads the dw when it needs to be done and is responsible for cleaning off the table every night after dinner. She sorts her own laundry and puts it away after I'm done. She can do her own laundry if necessary but I usually throw her stuff in with mine.