Housework is Funny. Because it's True!

Thank you to those who left comments about their chore routines --it made me think, and guess what I did? I figured it out and put together our chore charts and yesterday, instead of being all lazy because it was a "holiday," I did a marathon laundry and cleaning day. It was necessary, dear reader. Necessary! Because the chore charts are what I consider Preventative Chores. What I mean, is that they are put in place to keep things from getting out of hand. But in order to maintain, there must be something to maintain, eh?

I'm lovin' it so far! Of course, it's only been two days, but still... I did a different type of chart this time. Instead of saying things like "Clean your room" I got very, VERY specific. The kids know, in detail, every thing that is expected of them. There is now no room for misinterpretation! Each morning before school there is a required list (they can't leave for school until it is done), and each afternoon and evening there is a required list (which still leaves time to play between school and dinner and dinner and bedtime).

Do you know what else I did!? I put together a MEAL plan. A real MEAL PLAN! I know, right!? I only did it for a week, but I planned all three meals, plus the after school snack. Then I printed it off and taped it to the cupboard. It's wild and weird because I've followed it for TWO meals now. Two whole meals! It begs the question: Is Cheryl really improving? Or is the pregnancy just getting easier!?

Opinion time:

A lot of you told me that your kids don't have "chores" during the weekday because school is their chore. I understand that, I do --but I disagree with it, and I'll tell you why (but please don't misinterpret this to mean you have to change your ways --my point is just to write out my point. Your points are just fine!):

My husband got a job by the time he was 12. I had been babysitting as a job since I was 11; got a "real" job at 15. I worked all through high school, managed to graduate with a 3.75, and was pretty much involved with every music program known to man, as well as 5 after school clubs (and several AP courses). Oh! And I still had some chores to do at home. I seriously worked HARD. I learned how important hard work was, but more importantly, it prepared me for life as an adult. When I got to college, I had to work, go to classes, and maintain a clean apartment all by my lonesome (or suffer the wrath of angry roommates). I truly believe that chores and work taught me how to do this. Of course, if anything, it prepared me mostly for motherhood. And wifehood.

Brandon worked all through high school, too, and graduated valedictorian. In fact, the man has had a job since that summer he was 12! Well, the mission was unpaid, of course. :)



So, my kids work. They don't really have a choice. As they age and we have to reassess their abilities to work and go to school at the same time, things may change, but for now, in their young-ness, it's working for us. Their jobs are age-apporpriate, but they are important. I truly believe that it is my job, as their mother, to teach them how to work, and how to work hard. Whether that means school work, extra-curricular work, or house work, to me, it's the same. All of my kids are going to know how to clean toilets, change diapers, do laundry, and finish homework (i.e. Finish What They Start) before they get out of high school. They are also going to learn that we do the important and hard things before we do the lazy and fun things. That is my goal.

Of course, I'm sure it's your goal, too --we just go about it differently. And that's okay!

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My second favorite household chore is ironing. My first being hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint. ~Erma Bombeck

The obvious and fair solution to the housework problem is to let men do the housework for, say, the next six thousand years, to even things up. The trouble is that men, over the years, have developed an inflated notion of the importance of everything they do, so that before long they would turn housework into just as much of a charade as business is now. They would hire secretaries and buy computers and fly off to housework conferences in Bermuda, but they'd never clean anything. ~Dave Barry


I like hugs and I like kisses,
But what I really love is help with the dishes! ~Author Unknown

Housework is something you do that nobody notices until you don't do it. ~Author Unknown