My sister has 5 kids, and while I was down taking care of her kids in Texas last month I was inspired to change the way i'm doing things with my kids and their chores. i found out just by watching her kids that a job done 4-5 times slightly less than perfect is still better than me putting it on my list of things to do that may or may not get done. For example she has her 6 and 8 year old vacuuming the front room every day, and even though they maybe don't do as good a job as she would herself, they are learning and actually getting more done than she would if she tried to do it amid all the other things she's doing. I can totally see the value in that. Plus the kids are pretty proud that they can do the big kids jobs too. So with this new found inspiration i thought it was about time that i changed up the chores here at our house. So now ethan and sam are helping with the sweeping and vacuuming, collecting and sorting laundry, unloading the dishwasher, folding socks and towels, putting their own clothes away, etc. And as much as i know i am somewhat, slightly, and maybe just a little bit of a perfectionist on certain jobs, i've really had to take a step back and say it's ok, they are helping out and that's more important. Ryan is in charge of dusting and even has his very own duster with his name on it. And i read somewhere that if you have a 4 year old that has a duster of their own, you're house will be completely dust free. Well Ryan also has the job of cleaning the kitchen window. Of course with this he can only reach so high, but most of the finger prints are where he can reach anyway. The other day i took this video of him cleaning the window. He loves his job. He started out with just less than half a bottle of windex and a few dry papertowels. (also, watch his mouth). I do have to say my kids are doing great with their jobs, and my house does seem to be in more order than it use to be.
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3 comments:
You are a GENIUS and he is HILARIOUS! I'm very impressed. :)
I think this is a great idea - can't wait until Alden is a little older. Right now we're working on making his bed, wiping the table (after I remove the crumbs) and helping me unload the dishwasher. The windows are a new one, but I worry about having them use chemicals. They can't seem to keep spray bottles out of their mouths.
He is pretty good! We found the same thing in our family. We prefer to call them slaves. It is definitely easier when there are lots of helping hands.
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