Are Your Kids Doing Their Share?

There is a conversation going around among my mompreneur friends about how much we get our kids to do.  How much responsibility, chores, if they are teenagers – why should we be responsible for the schedule, etc.

I find the conversation interesting because I know that we have always asked more of our kids than our parenting peers ask of theirs.  I am not saying we ask our kids to do more than we were asked to do as kids, sometimes I think they get away with less because there are more of them and therefore there is not quite as many jobs each person needs to do.

I know I complained about some of my chores, and occasionally put them off.  But I don’t remember having to be constantly reminded to do them every single day.  It was more like weekly complaining is my memory. But I am sure it is at least somewhat faulty.

However lately (and maybe it’s exasperated by being the only adult home, and maybe it isn’t) I feel like it truly does take more energy to remind my preteen to do what she needs to do every single day than it would be to just do the thing myself.  We have employed timers to remind her to check on that laundry in the washer, and I have even hung it up on the line to help the process happen. But it is still a daily struggle and I am sick of it.  

My almost teenager does a bit better and it’s really only washing the dishes by hand that she puts off for days.  And the communication between the child who empties the dishwasher and it getting reloaded by said teenager has lots of issues.

The five year old is actually unloading the dishwasher all by herself lately which is amazing and we have been just staying out of the kitchen and letting her do it, because previously she has hated and dug her heels into any kind of chore other than getting the cats food.  And at 5 we expect a bit more than that, especially since all of her older sisters have had to do a bit more than that.

Is it because it is summer and it’s been a hot one here in Maine that they are suddenly so lethargic?  About the only time they pitched in with little complaint was when we were getting ready for the Harry Potter party they wanted to have.  But that was a week and a half ago and the house is back to looking pretty trashed, try as I might to keep up with it.  

I did finally get ice cream treats again so I will give them a list of things to do to earn said ice cream treats while I am gone at my doctors appointment.  Hopefully at least some of them will happen. I think I will take away media until they happen too. Seriously, if you sweep the floor everyday it doesn’t become a big deal.  Same with the dishes. And I get that it’s hot, I’m hot too.

I also need to get some fly tape because we seem to have extra flies this year.  Or maybe hubby was just faster to get the fly tape up? I remember we had eat birds in the basement for a while and all the flies were down there, so maybe they are just attracted to the kitchen instead.  However there were like a dozen in my room last night, and there isn’t any food up here.

Someday I’ll have kids that just pitch in and help right?  That’s the end goal. That and them having the skills to pitch in and help other places.  Not just the ability to pay bills, make phone calls and those kinds of life skills, but also how to not live as a slob.  Yep. That would be good too.