This morning we had to show our house and I found myself wishing I had done the things that had been on my list since a week ago. Pretty soon however I realized that I have an asset I'm not using to his full potential. My son.
My almost five year old son dusted every window sill in the house, vacuumed almost every room and swept an area of crumbs in the kitchen. He is normally more than willing to help mop the floor or spritz and scrub a toilet and I need to take full advantage of this, while he feels this way!
Granted, today was a lot of work for him, he seemed to enjoy it and kept asking to help. I think adding one more chore every day might even give him a greater sense of accomplishment and purpose. He is currently expected to empty the silverware, (or sort it if his sister puts them away in the corner of the drawer) feed the dog once per day, besides making his bed and picking up toys at the appropriate times.
It's nice that he currently has the desire to help and I'd love to hope it stays but am not quite that naive. Plus it's nice to know what I can expect from him. You know recently he bugged me enough to get my flute out and start to play it and for some reason I started thinking about my high school choir director. Yeah, I have no explanation for my train of thought, I am aware that a flute is played in a band not chorus. :)
Back to my original thought, my HS choir director expected a lot from us. We sang some pretty difficult stuff. Only back then, I don't remember knowing it was difficult, just what we were singing. My point, if I have one at this wee hour in the morning, I think that people tend to perform as expected. If I expect my son will be able to conquer difficult tasks, I bet he'll learn. I also hope it gives him a sense of belonging and pride, knowing that he is a valued part of our family.
Worry not about my son becoming a child laborer, his chores take about five to ten minutes a day. I don't think this too much to ask since maybe him helping will give me a five minute break! A Mom's chores take the majority of the day after all! ;-P
2 comments:
You deserve a 5 minute break! I've been thinking about the Choir director as well, lately. Heard a couple of songs you sang with him on the 4th! Wonder if he's on FB?
He's not I checked! Wow spelling and grammar mistakes are quite larger at 1am
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