My daughter is finishing up her first year of school. She seems to enjoy it and is keeping up in class
as far as I can tell. It is often
stressed that it is a good idea to read to your children. Miraculously over the course of the year, my daughter
is reading. This means 3 nights a week,
I am helping her read a book. Usually
this took around 10 minutes. This week
they are reading a grade 2, Level N book that is close to 800 words. The first night we read it took 30
minutes. Last night it took 20
minutes. I don’t mind spending this
amount of time with my kids, but I wonder where the bar is.
The unfortunate effect is that I feel like I am neglecting
to nurture my preschooler. While kids
never get the exact same amount of time, money, food, toys, etc, I like to
think over a long enough timeline it balances out. I am not even concerned about keeping things
fair. My real goal is to not undermine
my family’s interests.
These interests will continue to diversify and become more
time consuming down the road. School and
extracurricular activities will expand and the home will not be easier to maintain.
When the girls were first born, we depended on outsourcing
housekeeping and lawn maintenance in order to preserve our sanity. We even catered food on a regular basis. Now I believe it is time to tap a resource
that has at times boundless energy. I am
going to start giving the girls chores.
They already help around the house, but it is time to formalize it. I want them to be self motivated and self
sufficient as kids, teenagers and adults.
I need to set a good example. I set out on household chores ad hoc when the
level of cleanliness and organization is below what I feel comfortable
with. For me that is about a monthly
cycle. For others it may be weekly or
even more frequently. My go forward plan
is to have them clear the table and load the dishwasher on days we eat at home. I will clean the rest of the kitchen. They can get clothes into the hampers and I
will wash them. They can get toys picked
up and I will vacuum. I hate making beds
so I really can’t push this on my kids yet.
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