I was struck this morning by how my role as a mother has been changing. When my children were young, my days were filled with laundry, sweeping, cleaning, cooking, tying shoes, choosing outfits, changing diapers...
And as they get older, I'm still doing many of those things, but in more of a "manager" role. We always share family chores. Emptying trash cans, washing counters and tables, dusting furniture are all easy kid-jobs. But this morning as we did our Saturday morning cleaning, our children took on some of the bigger jobs....sweeping the floor, cleaning the toilet, doing dishes....with mom looking over their shoulders, showing them how to get the broom in corners, reminding them that re-organizing the barbies is not on the list, explaining that you have to actually TOUCH the toilet in order to clean it, breaking up the occasional argument, and singing the praises of using HOT water to wash dishes.
The morning To-Do list is covered with scribbles -easy jobs claimed first by the more experience family members....completed tasks crossed off triumphantly....and today my name is not next to any of them. Looking at the list, one child judges the equality of work done this morning and wonders why mom didn't do anything.
Sigh.
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3 comments:
change change change...managing and teaching. it sounds good and all these little things are so important!! Giggle re: organizin' barbies, touching toilet, hot water...I still prefer to organize than clean!!
I completely understand. My five children are ages 11-2, so while I still do massive amounts of laundry and change diapers, I find myself in more of an adviser role these days...helping choose clothes for school, lunches, report topics, show-and-tell objects, etc. I'm enjoying this new role immensely. :)
I love that my kids can help with chores now. It takes so much less time. I'm not so sure how well they like it though, lol.
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