Little girl's vintage-style apron by Retro Rugratswww.retrorugrats.etsy.com
Gracie (4) made a huge mistake the other day. I'm talking a majorly, monumentally huge mistake.
She informed me that she knew how to fold the laundry.
"Prove it," I said. She was more than eager to. So, I pulled out a load of lovely, fresh-smelling, warm and fuzzy laundry and handed it to her. She folded it all beautifully.
What exactly is so huge a mistake about folding laundry, you may be wondering right about now. The fact that she showed me she could do it. Because now, she has her very first chore. No she doesn't get allowance. No she doesn't get a cookie, a jelly bean or a sticker. She doesn't get a special trip to the park or a star on a chart. She just gets a polite, "Thanks, Gracie" and a request to put her nicely folded laundry in her drawer before she can go back to playing.
Believe me, she regrets that first batch of folded laundry very, very much. To her, folding that laundry was a very major, monumentally HUGE mistake. Because before she showed me that she was such a skilled laundress, she pretty much escaped any responsibility other than putting her toys away sometimes and ... well, that's about it. That 4 year old of mine was footloose and fancy-free. But now, no matter how many loads of laundry I do (you know, like 3 a day at least), she's the one doing the folding. All of it. By herself. With no help from me whatsoever.
Can I tell you how much I love that?
Okay moms out there... tell me: What chores do you have your kids do? Because I'm fully prepared to dole out a few dozen more, so I can finally sit on the couch and eat bon-bons like we moms are supposed to be doing all day long.
xoxo,
haha niiiice! Brayden folds all of the towels, wash clothes, and pairs the socks for me when I do laundry. That and picking up the living room at night before bed are really only the chores he has. I should definatly rectify that.
ReplyDeleteyep, my girls fold and put away their laundry too. :-) they also are responsible for feeding and watering the animals, though sometimes i have to come behind them and dump some of that food back in the bin lest our animals become candidates for the next installment of "The Biggest Loser".
ReplyDeleteoh, how I wish! I'm totally jealous!! Daniel(3) is not far off being given a list of chores which I'm sure he would happily do. Heck, I'm sure it won't be long before Samuel (6 weeks) also wants to help...but Thomas (4) is the laziest child on the planet!!!! I'm hoping to instil new rules and regulations at the new house! He'll be 5 by then...
ReplyDeleteAmelia is great about helping me clean up and put things away...but we are still working on the laundry. She likes to help me take the stuff out of the dryer, but when she tries to help fold, I just end up having to unfold and redo everything! We still have time to learn though :P
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