Housework Helpers

The day of easing the housework load is near!

On Mondays, the garbage is collected in our neighborhood. This afternoon, after the garbage trucks emptied our trash cans and departed with our disposed assets, the girls played in the front yard. Concurrently, I intended to roll the cans back to their usual spots.

Just as I approached this Monday afternoon chore, Valerie ran toward me proclaiming, "I want to help! I want to do it mommy! I can put the cans away! Please, mommy, can I help?"

In this instance, I happily relinquished the duty to my oldest child.

Dagny observed the situation. Barely a moment passed, then she, too, ran to me, shouting, "I hep too! MOMMY, I HEP TOO!"

My little helpers....

I thought to myself, "The day has come! It's cool in the Haim household to help with the dirty work!"

I offered each child a coin for their piggy banks to show my appreciation for their help. I guess I'm one of those parents who thinks it's important in child development for kids to help around the house - to give them a sense of teamwork and of accomplishment. They really are so proud of themselves when they help!

It may be cool for the moment. The question now becomes how quickly will this "fun-to-do-chores attitude" dissipate?

I'm hoping it remains fun for at least five more years. I mean really, isn't this why we have kids - so they can help around the house? I have a long list of things to do -
garbage
laundry
breakfast
vacuum
garden
clean
put things away
pull things out
lunch
grocery
dry cleaners
bills
dinner
diapers
baths
change light bulbs
schedule appointments
etc.

Really, the list never ends and is quite repetitive. I can see why people used to have more kids... And they didn't even have any of the modern day conveniences like washing machines, garbage disposals or dishwashers which we fully utilize today!