Besides, I live in California. If I had even tried to get my kids to do any of these chores, I would have been interviewed by Child Protective Services. In California the little darlings get trophies for everything, have birthday parties where every child in the school is expected to be invited, and you're under performing as a meaningful parent if your precious child isn't scheduled for at least six activities every day after school. Chores? How incredibly plebeian.
But still...it would have been kind of nice to have had a little help.
Yep.
ReplyDeleteAt least they do feed the pets, most of the time, and the 16yo helps clean her rabbits' pens. If only I could get them to scoop the cat box occasionally, but even though two of the three beasts are theirs, the 16yo is too depressed and her back hurts(!) and the 18yo just doesn't remember, and anyway her back hurts too (she has some excuse, scoliosis surgery fusing T10-L3, but still).
We're trying to teach them how to do the laundry, and they are capable of very, very basic cooking, if only because some nights I'm too tired so it's every person for themselves.
Suggestions that either of them pick stuff up in the living room is greeted by wails that most of it is someone else's. I need to point out to elder that the stuff between her chair where she computivates and the TV has to be hers, because nobody else has been near there since the last time I cleaned it up and vacuumed. Last time I did that though, she tried to tell me that it was stuff the cat knocked down or dragged in. Since the main cat doing that is hers....
We're trying to teach them how to do the laundry, and they are capable of very, very basic cooking, if only because some nights I'm too tired so it's every person for themselves.
DeleteThat's as far as I've gotten with my daughter. Now she wants me to write a cookbook for her to take to college because she FINALLY realizes it might be wise to know how to cook. HAHA!
So, if I said I did all that stuff, you wouldn't actually check up on me would you? 'Cause I totally did, all of 'em.
ReplyDeleteWord of honor?
DeleteSure. I trust you.
Back in my day, this was called chores. I used to have to work my
ReplyDeleteass off for .75 cents (Later $1.00) per week. Good luck getting the
self absorbed brats to leave their Iphones alone long enough to mow
a lawn or clean a bedroom!
Except in enlightened liberal hell-holes such as Californiastan, you could tell the self-absorbed brat that they don't get any supper tonight because you were on your iPhone. Then tell them they will have to wear dirty clothes because you were too absorbed in your iPhone to do their laundry for them. Then tell them that you are too busy with your iPhone to take them to soccer or baseball or cheerleading, or any other extra-curricular activity, and you are going to stay that way until they put their iPhones down and mow the lawn, clean their rooms, take out the trash, do the dishes, and any other chore they are capable of to help keep the house livable. On the other hand, TAKE THEIR FRIGGIN' iPhone AWAY FROM THEM, confiscate the X-Box, computer, and the tv in their room, and tell them they aren't going anywhere (even on weekends) or doing anything until they start helping around the house.
DeleteYes, leonardrjones. and we called them chores, too, but we weren't paid for them. We were told we had food on the table, a table on which to eat it, and a bed to sleep in with a roof over our heads. Period. We had to babysit others people's kids for any money.
DeleteAnd you are absolutely right, Ogrrre, about California. The sad thing is you really can't fight it. We actually moved from the Bay Area up to the foothills thinking we could get out of the insanity of limos for sixth graders and birthday parties with bands and floating hot air balloons for 60 kids. But it is just as crazy up here because the culture of indulging the little snowflakes is everywhere in California. ARRRRRGGH!
Delete