Chores

Why is that no how hard you try and how easy you try to make it...trying to get kids to do their chores is like pulling teeth? And how young is too young to start having your kids do chores? This is a constant sore point with my MIL, she thinks we make them do too much. We start the kids out with clearing their spot at the table...as soon as they are able to carry their dishes to the sink without spilling everything all over the floor the start that chore. As they get older we add in dishwasher duty, washing the table, sweeping the floor, washing the countertops and cleaning out the microwave. Everyone is expected to help clear the table after a meal. Outside the kitchen, their chores grow to include picking up their room, changing their sheets, bringing their dirty clothes down to be washed, putting their clean clothes away, cleaning the cat box, cleaning out the big van, vacuuming, dusting, sweeping and cleaning their bathrooms. They all know what is expected of them because we have a master chore chart posted on the wall with all their names, the days of the week and what chore gets done on which day. It's not that hard to follow. So why can't they? It's like they suddenly don't know what day it is or they have forgotten how to read...which can't be a real excuse because we also have pictures drawn on the chart for the littlest ones. I can't figure out how to get it across to them that if they do a little bit everyday, it'll take less time to keep it up. They are famous for walking by a book on the floor...they would rather step over it than bend down, pick it up and put it away where it belows. They also love to shove things in their drawers...doesn't matter if the stuff actually belongs in there or not...as long as it's out of sight, that's good enough for them. Now I know in the back of my mind that they are just kids and that's just the way kids are and I don't expect things to be perfect but I would like to be better than they are now. With 8 of us living in this house, it takes all of us doing our part to keep it under control.

I guess all the cleaning I did yesterday has gotten me thinking of this. Then on top of that, they got invited to go boating today but we had to call back and say they couldn't go because they were fighting with each other when they were told they had to get some of their chores done before they left. How in the world to do we temper this or should we just resign ourselves to the fact that this is the way it's going to be...a constant tug of war to get them to do their chores until they get older and have kids of their own...at which point they will finally understand what we have been saying all this time.