Perhaps your Perfect Day Plan looks something like this:
8:00 am – everyone recites the Pledge of Allegiance and
sings “My Country Tis of Thee”
Doesn’t that look so possible and doable and ideal? There’s only one problem, my friends (aside
from the fact that Utopia will not be attained in this world). A very key activity is missing from the above
schedule.
CHORES!
Yes, indeed! Those of
you who opt for realism over optimism were probably picturing the problem as
you read the schedule. “Not in MY house
would that happen! The kids wouldn’t be
able to find their books, I wouldn’t be able to find the kitchen table and my
husband wouldn’t be able to find us!”
That’s because chores need to be included in this list!
“Aw, shucks,” you might say.
“They’re just kids. Why should
they have to do chores? I want them to
have a fun childhood!” If that is true,
then why are you bothering to educate them?
They would probably rather be playing in the yard anyway.
Of course, you are educating them for the same reason you
should have them do chores – it prepares them for adulthood and Real Life. It is actually a kindness to teach your
children the basics of cleaning a house and preparing a meal. Here are both the short and long term
benefits.
Short Term
If you start your day with a one hour cleanup time, then the rest of the day will be less confusing and chaotic. The kitchen table will be cleared, there will be room to sit on the couch and everybody will hopefully know where their books are. (If not, check under the bed!) Tidying the house every day minimizes such problems as lost library books, dog hair in the sandwiches, forgotten commitments, overlooked mail and lost keys.
If you start your day with a one hour cleanup time, then the rest of the day will be less confusing and chaotic. The kitchen table will be cleared, there will be room to sit on the couch and everybody will hopefully know where their books are. (If not, check under the bed!) Tidying the house every day minimizes such problems as lost library books, dog hair in the sandwiches, forgotten commitments, overlooked mail and lost keys.
By teaching your children how to run a house, you are teaching them to survive on their own some day. How many of you mothers wish your mother had passed on her homemaking skills to you? How many of you fathers ate out a
How To Do It
These chores don’t have to be onerous or majorly time
consuming. For instance, in our family,
Raquelle and I were each responsible every morning to make our beds, tidy one
of the bathrooms and tidy the living room and school room. In the kitchen, we helped with meal prep and
took turns washing the counters and vacuuming the floor. Once or twice a week we had an extra chore
like folding laundry or scrubbing a bathtub.
Usually, our whole chore time lasted about 1 hour.
It was worth it. The
rest of the day flowed much more smoothly as everything was generally in its
place and we had room to work. Meal prep
and cleanup went much more quickly. Colds and other contagious ailments were
not automatically passed to everyone in the family since the bathrooms were cleaned every day. Unexpected company was not the Disaster of
the Century. In fact, our whole family
continues to reap the benefits of Raquelle and I being able to help run the
house.
So this year, as you make your day plans, think about adding
some chores to teach your kids Real Life Skills. You will love the ultimate benefits of a tidy
house and responsible children!
Written by Heather Sheen, a Chore Expert
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