the wind blows chill right to my summer-loving-bones. i've never liked the cold. give me warmth and sunshine and bare feet any day, every day. the winter days are hard and long with little ones that desperately need to be outside washing away their energy with running and jumping and tree climbing high enough to make my mama heart panic.
so, in an effort to fight the winter-melt-downs ensued by too many hours cooped up inside, i am slowly giving my little ones more responsibilities around the house. their ages are seven-next month, four and a half and two-next month.
after breakfast is finished they clear their area, something we've been working on for weeks now. teaching them to take ownership of their space and their things. they put their plates in the sink and their water cups in the refrigerator. i ask eisley, the oldest, to empty the dishwasher, which she currently LOVES to do. i start making the bed and durgin comes in upset that he doesn't have a job. now, had i issued a job earlier without his request i truly feel he would have resisted. however, seeing his older sister with a job instantly made him want one. so he brought the laundry from the dryer to the living room and folded what he could and put away a few things as well.
lunch was prepared while the darlings played. then we enjoyed a bit of geography along with our goodies. .
once they were finished they, again, cleared their area and asked to clean the floors. every part of my perfectionist self wanted to say no i'll do that later, but i resisted. they each had a broom or mop of some sort. very little cleaning was actually accomplished but with some upbeat music they enjoyed a little dance party while getting the hang of pushing the broom around. they expended some energy and my floors do look surprisingly cleaner.
how do you teach your little ones to help out around the house?
hey Mel :) nice post...you clever Mama you :) Here chores seem to be in a constant state of flux... with certain things expected of my 18 and 15 year old...but not that much...keeping their rooms tidy and making their beds...taking washing through and hanging up the wet floor towel and rinsing out the bath after bath time...other than that they are expected to help my husband and i when we ask for help...cutting the lawn folding the washing...doing dishes...or watching Bradley when needed...and they do so without much moaning...Bradley will load the dishwasher every now and again...and is expected to keep his room tidy...or put away toys left in the rest of the house...but not much more really although i know he can do more... I have also recently started to teach Bianca-Leigh simple cooking ...and she mostly bakes on her own with me keeping her company ... I do not want my children to grow up not being able to fend for themselves...but for the most part we are not very strict and do not expect too much when the kids are very busy like during exams and such...Stay Strong C Ps i like your idea of taking ownership of your own space at meal times...think i may just borrow that one from you ;)
ReplyDeleteOur kids are just about the same age...all of them! My oldest two have to take their plates to the sink and take the dirty clothes to the hamper...which still need daily reminder lol!
ReplyDeleteSometimes the only chore they have is to stay out of the way and NOT make a mess while I am trying to clean up messes lol.
blahhh I hear you on winter! We put swings in our basement...that helped!