by Lori Seaborg ~ Used by permission
When I was a kid, I remember telling my mom once, "You just had us so you'd have servants!" Now that I'm a mother of four, I think ... well, yep, that sounds about right. Those kids make great servants! Plus, they're cute to look at while they work.
But the biggest reason to teach them while they are little is not so you can get out of the work yourself, but because if you don't teach them, adulthood will be that much harder.
I have a friend who was pampered as a child and not taught to do any cleaning or cooking. She is now the mother of four preschoolers and has the hardest time keeping her home. My friend recently found a bag of flour in her cupboard. Her mother had left it after visiting one day. My friend didn't know what to do with flour; she had recipes, but didn't know how to follow one! So she called her mom to ask what to do with the flour. Guess what her mom said?
"I am so sorry I never taught you those things you need to know."
Don't you wait until your child is an adult to teach him or her! Teaching can begin today.
The kids don't need to add to our burden. They can be little helpers! Don't dustpan the floor after you sweep, get your 5yo to do it. Don't wind the vacuum cord after you vacuum! Call him in, tell him it's a race track and he gets to drive the cord around the track, winding it up.
Think of yourself as a manager. You are delegating the small stuff so you can work on the big stuff. You will enjoy the little breaks that you receive and you will be less stressed. Your children will be filled with pride. But their real reward is later.
When they grow into adults they will know how to take care of themselves.
(Sometimes we just don't realize what chores our children are capable of. In the below posts, you will see my lists of chores that my children can do at ages 2, 5, 7, and 9.)
WHAT 1-2-YEAR-OLD WALKERS CAN DO...
1-2 year-old walkers can...
• Load the clothes' dryer as you hand over the items one by one. Say the names of the colors of the clothes as you hand them to her, so she'll learn her colors at the same time.
• Empty the silverware container from the dishwasher. My 2-year-old dumps the silverware into the drawer, so we have to straighten it, but at least it is in there!
• Take the silverware to the table for setting it
• Sit on the counter as you make cookies and dump the cups of ingredients into the mixer as you hand them to her
• Clear her items off the table after she eats
• Fill the dog or cat dish with the food that you give her
• Pick up her own toys (if she can pull them out of the basket or drawer, she can put them back in!)
WHAT A 3-5-YEAR-OLD CAN DO...
3-5 year-olds can...
• Pick up an assigned floor (our little guy is in charge of making sure the living room and the library room floors are clear all day long)
• Dust low areas
• Sort socks (call it the "Matching Game")
• Wind up the vacuum cleaner cord after you vacuum
• Use the mini-broom and dustpan after you sweep the floors into a pile
• Clear the table after meals
• Empty the clothes' dryer into a basket
• Get the mail (if your mailbox is in a safe area, of course!)
• And he can do all of the 1-2 year old's list, in the above post
WHAT ELEMENTARY-AGED KIDS CAN DO...
Elementary kids can…
• Drill the preschoolers on numbers, colors, and letters. We keep flashcards, chalk, a Leap Pad, and dry-erase boards for this reason.
• Fold clothes from the dryer (Start them out with just towels, then shirts, socks, and finally Daddy's looooong pants. Nobody folds anyone's underwear! Those just get :::eww!::: tossed into the owner's pile)
• Clear and wipe the table after meals (our 9yo Brenden does this at supper; 7yo Brittany does this for lunch)
• Sweep the kitchen floor after meals (9yo's job at lunch; 7yo's job at supper)
• Vacuum a room or two
• Be in charge of keeping the floors of two rooms clear all day long (9yo does the boys' room, foyer, and hallway; 7yo does the girls' room and kitchen)
• Clean windows
• Give the baby her bath (I'd wait until she is well old enough to sit, and your elementary-age child has to be trustworthy enough to do this!)
• Clean the bathtub after the younger ones use it
• Make a basic recipe (our 7yo can make French toast if I assemble the ingredients first. She also makes cinnamon toast; our 9yo can follow the directions on a box)
• Fill the cereal bowls of the younger children in the morning
• Fill the baby's sippy cups or bottles, or the preschooler's cups, as needed (our 9yo doesn't always want to do this for his 5yo brother, but I always say, " I was filling your cup when you were his age, so you're going to do it for someone else now!"
• Open and close the window blinds/curtains each day.
• Do everything on the lists above, for 1-2-year-olds and preschoolers.
Lori Seaborg is a wife and a homeschooling mom of four. She enjoys writing and homemaking in the countryside of the Florida-Alabama Gulf Coast. You may subscribe to her monthly newsletter, Keeping the Home, by sending an email to: keeping_the_home-subscribe@welovegod.org . You may also read her blog at: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KeepingtheHome .
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