Today I knew Paul was going to work late and I had so much to do...
SO... I decided to get the kids in on the working thing that happens around the house - you know, the normal everyday mundane stuff that's mostly left for mom (and dad, in our family) to do. Don't get me wrong, we've been getting the kids in on the chores thing for quite some time now> Every Saturday morning we do a big clean up and the house gets cleaned properly - floors washed and vacuumed, kitchen sparkling, bathroom really clean etc. But the day-to-day stuff is often a huge fight and I have to psyche myself up for it when I ask the kids to do something so that I don't feel like I've started WW3. I'm not afraid of the fight nor am I in any way willing to back down - doing housework together as a family is what we will do in our house and the kids will be used to it by the time they leave to live their own lives. I refuse to be the maid or servant so everyone has to pull their weight.
And today I did it all again and it worked and I felt as though I was doing great! When we got home, the kids wanted to swim so I told them that if they did everything I asked them to do first, then they could. They were happy with that so they all willingly went and did the tasks assigned to them. Jordy unstacked the dishwasher, Julie stacked most of the things she could manage - the pots that needed a bit more elbow grease were left for me. We had lunch and then they had a whole hour of swimming. It was super!
When we got back, they all played outside with their friends and eventually, at 5.30, I called them all in and got them all (barring Kael) to pack their clean washing away. Julie even got to taking all the clothes off her bottom cupboard shelf and re-packing it all neatly.
I had since made supper and we all ate feeling quite good about ourselves.
It just worked out so well today. Granted, I don't expect every day to be this easy from now on but I think just the fact that we got it right is good enough to keep me going for a while. I feel like a sane mother and think my kids rock!
And on days like these, I am also ever grateful that my children are growing up learning to be responsible and team players. This is why we have families - so we can feel the joy of working together and being happy when we've all done what we are expected to.
