Chores....

Its a dirty word. CHORES. They are dreaded. They are mundane. Daily, weekly, monthly and in my case we even have quarterly chores. The kids have them and as much as they think its unfair to have them, their dad and I know that in the long run it is teaching them responsibility. Of course they think they do more than the other and in some cases they think they do more than I do. And we all know that is just next to impossible :) They have a chore list in their rooms and are expected to do them on a daily and weekly basis. We aren't ripping away a childhood by giving the 3 kids chores. Its only fair that they 1) pick up after themselves 2) understand that this is a household with 5 people in it and in order for us to all manage, chores are a necessity. Whatever and how ever they want to run their house when they are on their own is their business. I just hope that they keep a clean house. That they will pass the torch on to their own kids and teach them that it takes 10 minutes a day to just pick up, sweep up, and wipe down anything that needs to be cleaned. I do have the privilege of being a stay at home mom. I often have comments come my way ..."I would have a clean house too if I got to stay home all day." or my favorite "Well I have a job, so I don't have time for chores." Funny thing is, I haven't always been a stay at home mom. I have worked out of the house before and guess what? My house was just as clean. Its called time management on whats important. I have always allowed my self 2 days a week to do laundry. Wash, dry, hang, fold, and put up. I have never had laundry laying around my living room furniture or baskets laying all over my kitchen table. I wash and dry. The kids are responsible for hanging and putting up their laundry that I put on their bed. Even my 5 year old son puts up his laundry. Towels, dishrags, washrags, hand towels are all washed and my oldest folds and puts them away as soon as they come out of the dryer. We all have turns on washing dishes. (Its on my Mothers Day wish list I get a new dishwasher this year. Santa forgot it at Christmas) I cook. They clean the kitchen. I clean the shower and toilet. They keep the sink clean. The girls share a room. They are both responsible on keeping it picked up and respecting each others space. My sons room...is well...picked up at the moment and he has been doing an OK job doing it by himself. He even took his trash out and swept it the other day without being told! I was a proud momma! We all have the broom in our hands at some point during the week. We all live in this house. It takes NO time away from them having an afternoon outside. Or a full weekend of play to just do a few chores. They have learned to respect the things around them better. To put work first and play last. I do have my Saturdays where I would rather us have a laid back, lazy day. Because we all know that the dishes can wait and the floor isn't that dirty to lay around and watch a movie or two. So the next time I am labeled ANAL, or mean, or when I listen to the snarky comments about how you "WORK", just know I have kids that aren't going to run a muck in your home and while you have a place to sit at my house, I will stand and laugh as you scramble to move every piece of laundry from your couch and kitchen table before I am comfortable enough to sit down.