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.)
6 comments:
So right. My 12 has the cat box, animal food, a vac through the house, and my 9 has all trash cans, wash one bathroom fixture in each bathroom. Dh, has dishes and I have laundry. I tell them families are a team and we work toghether.
I forgot to say daily. LOL
What's really cool is when you see them start to use these skills to bless others and serve the Lord. My 11 yo is taking over the making of our communion crackers for church. She wouldn't be able to do this if she hadn't been taught how to bake and read a recipe.
I think you've hit on a major area of a woman's duty of "managing the household." An important part of management has always been responsible delegation. I think too often people's unwillingness to have a lot of children stems from the nagging idea that all children are consumers merely. This is what our culture has turned them into. We must fight against that trend. Children need to be producers, not only for the sanity and time of the mother but also because that is who we want them to be in the world. Most homeschooled children (but not all) are remarkably helpful and self-motivated, the signs of someone who has been trained to ask not what people could do for them, but what they could do for others (shameless allusion to JFK, sorry).
Yea! I was teaching my child how to run the washer and dryer this morning. He was moaning and groaning- but I kept thinking how are you ever going to take care of yourself when you are an adult? Sometimes it is just easier to do it myself. I have one child that wanted to sautee the onions last night and the other one doesn't know what a pot holder is..... Oh, I am praying for his wife!!!!!!
Rachel..sounds like you're heading in the right direction! I don't have dh trained yet. :)
Fran..Wow! You've done well with your 11yo. I can't wait to see what my kids will come up with when they are older.
Foolish Man, you ain't so foolish! I just love what you wrote. Thank you for commenting!
Peg, lol! My 9yo has 90% lazy bones in his body, too. It takes a lot of prodding, but don't you think mama trains more gently than life will later?
Chasenkids, now why in the world would a Southerner be in Alaska? Brrr! At least you're escaping the summer heat.
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