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Tristan's chores
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Jenmomof6 – Yeah for girls! I’m due to have my fifth anyday now! So fun and SO much laundry, I’m sure!
I love all of these neat ideas. We also used the “folding” punishment for kids that are constantly throwing clean or nearly clean down the chute. I’ve also just appealed to my girls to look for stains, smell for smells and if they haven’t been outside running around – refold it and wear it again. I have one that is particularly good about wearing things again. I don’t mind folding laundry because I usually do it WHILE we’re doing school – it’s pretty easy for me to fold while listening to one of the younger ones read her reading book, but there’s got to be a huge advantage to teaching young children to do all their laundry on their own. Though I’m not sure I could get over folding clothes – my mom is a crazy “ironer”, seriously EVERYTHING is ironed – we rarely iron (unless we’re sewing something!) and I feel rebellious! LOL!
Blessings,
Rebekah
LOL about girls! We divide our laundry into jeans, darks, colored, whites, and every week we have a large load of PINKS. 😉
One thing I think that I have picked up from Tristan’s blog that makes total sense is to let them have a job long enough to become completely proficient in that particular one.
I also have a girl on the other end of the spectrum — as in going through the hamper to find something to wear and choosing the barn shirt with manure stains on the front. When I told her to go change, she ran upstairs and came back with the shirt on backwards!!!
I’m still mulling over how to tweak Tristan’s plan for us. Not all the girls can reach the buttons on the dryer and washer; not all the girls can get to the clothes at the bottom of the dryer; I do like the clothes folded; we do a weekly vacuum, not a daily.
I think some of my problem is that I’m so in the habit of tidying the bathrooms up, that they don’t need to be done – I do it automatically. I’m in the habit of putting away all laundry every morning – I actually enjoy housework. But I see that I need to encourage the girls to develop those habits…..But should I stop a good habit in me??? What would I replace it with? *L*
Karen,
I think it is great that you know what works for me will need adapted for you! We are each different. An idea for being able to reach buttons is a simple stepstool.
I enjoy housework too, mostly. I just keep reminding myself that I am preparing my children to be adults. When I got married days after I turned 19 I was lacking in most of the ‘running a home’ skills. Could not cook, was used to cleaning up just after myself, complaining over chores, etc. And I was working full time too, so I thought my husband should do half the work at home too, of course he had no clue how to do most of it either. We has quite a learning curve. I don’t want that for my children. So now I try to work myself out of a job so they can learn.
So now I try to work myself out of a job so they can learn.
That is my main philosophy! My 7YO son does his own laundry (and his 11YO brother) – mostly because I got sick of washing clean laundry that somehow made it to the hamper. (You know, when cleaning a bedroom it’s easier to throw things in the hamper than fold them and put them away!) He can’t reach all the knobs and buttons, either, but he’s been a climber since he could toddle, so I figure he’s capable. LOL.
One decision I made this morning was to train the oldest girl to do dishes. I’m going to wash and have her rinse and stack. And, thanks to Tristan and the notion of YEARLY jobs, I think I’ll have her do this with me a long time…..a month or more? Long enough that she’ll work with a mind to work instead of washing one spoon for 30 seconds!!! (That whole thing of hating to do a job and making the job take forever just kills me!!! I can’t stand when they do that!)
Plus, it’ll be good for us to have time to work together and chat while we work.
I do like the idea of switching the jobs up, but that hasn’t worked too well for us in the past. Maybe switch up some jobsand not others will work….I’m still in the planning stage!
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