Saturday, July 12, 2008

Kids and Chores

I think we can all agree that it is important to teach kids the value of work. Contributing to the family will instill a sense of purpose and belonging for children. But...let's face it, when kids help out it creates MORE work for parents!!!

For example; feeding the dog is one of the chores in our household. It would take me all of 30 seconds to feed the dog, but I'm trying to find ways for my children to contribute. So my 9 year old daughter has the chore of feeding the dog this week. The dog food is in the garage which means my daughter has to navigate two doors in the process of feeding the dog. First she scoops a cup full of dog food and spills half of it on the garage floor. Then she spills some more while opening the door to the laundry room. Then she spills some more while opening the door to the back yard. Finally she spills some more while pouring the dog food into Buddy's dish.
So now instead of just having a dog to feed, I have ants in the garage and a mess to clean up in the laundry room. Not to mention a very thin dog who only receives a small portion of the original cup of dog food.

On another occasion I gave my son the chore of trimming the shrubs with an electric trimmer. So he grudgingly started trimming the shrubs, but failed to realize that an electric trimmer has a power cord. So about five minutes into the job he trimmed the extension cord along with the shrubs, destroying the extension cord and blowing out half the electricity in the house!

Today is Saturday and so it is with a bit of anxiety that I venture downstairs to assign my kids some chores for the day. Wish me luck!

1 comment:

Barbara said...

Brad, I don't have a gorgeous picture to include like your "real" Mom, but I have now read most of what you have written about and I agree with Jane, You need to publish!! I laugh out loud at some of your stories, and having been a single Mom for several years, relate to most of them. Thanks for sharing yourself and your life. Love, StepMom, Barbara