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New Stage
of Life - Chorelist Update
Copyright © 2003
Andrea
Simanson
All Rights Reserved
One thing I've found in our family is
that chores (responsibilities) need to be evaluated and updated on a
regular basis in order to keep people interested and motivated about
successful family life.
I remember how exciting it
was to create that cute little list of chores for our first child. When
she was two, Kara could get dressed (with some help), put away her
pajamas, wash her face and hands, hang up her coat, put away her lunch
box, and brush her teeth at bedtime. Of course, going potty soon became
a very important task she would master several times throughout the
day, but that's more of a "life" skill than a chore. Anyway, you can
imagine the cute pictures I drew of these chores, since she couldn't
yet read. It was an exciting time for us, a family of three.
Then when our second child,
Jamie, came along, we had two chore lists. Jamie did the same things
Kara had done at 2, but Kara had mastered the first set of chores and
was ready for a few more. On weekends she loved taking a little stool
around the house and gathering plastic hangers in a basket for mom to
do laundry. Jamie loved his "extra" responsibility of turning on the
houselights when we got home at night. For some reason, it was never as
fun to turn off the lights at the end of the evening. Hmmm, wonder why?
Our two oldest children have
come a
long way since the 2 and 4 year old era. As teenagers, they
now do such things as unload the dishwasher, take out the garbages,
make their own lunches, care for their cat, shower on their own, clean
their rooms, vacuum, and do a few other regular household chores.
Now, with our third child,
we're back at stage one of chore life with
him. It's fun to start it all over again. And this time, he has his dad
and mom, along with the two older kids, training and helping him along
the way.
Oh, yeah, and don't forget
mom and dad. We need to evaluate and update our "responsibilities" from
time to time to be sure the household is growing as a team. Even as
adults,
variety and regular change helps keep us motivated about our "chores".
Whatever stage of life you're
in, take time to stop and evaluate how things are going and what
changes need to take place in order to build your family as a team.
With each new stage of life, take update those chore lists!
Andrea
Simanson is a wife
and
mother of three children, and the website and ezine editor of Successful Family Chores
- Putting FUN and ENERGY into everyday tasks. For a regular
dose of family organizational ideas and chore tips, sign up for her
free
bi-monthly newsletter by clicking here.
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