As we wait for the water to boil for our whole wheat penne rigate, I planned to sit down and write a post about Aidan helping me in the kitchen and how important I think it is for kids to help out with chores…apparently, I wasn’t the only one with that plan. On Parent Hacks, they just posted a topic pointing readers to a post from Oh My Stinkin’ Heck about the same thing. They posit that kids want to help and if we, as parents, don’t encourage and help them help us, we’re hurting them more than helping them.
Aidan LOVES to help me around the house…she holds the dustpan, throws things in the trash and helps me put books on the shelf, among other things. She especially loves to help me in the kitchen. We’ve made pumpkin bread, banana bread, and today she helped with our lunch. I can give her pretty much any job, like pulling the leaves off the basil, pushing the buttons on the Cuisinart, painting the olive oil on the ciabatta bread, throwing things in the trash and putting salt in the water. She wears the same apron I wore as a child helping my mom (it’s REALLY old so I’d even bet that my mom wore it too).
I am a firm believer in children contributing to the family effort, not financially but with chores, housekeeping and cooking. When parents don’t start their kids early with tasks and chores around the house, its next to impossible to get them to start doing them when they’re teenagers. For example, I know a family that has 3 teenaged children, when the 2 oldest were in middle school the father decided that the 3 needed to start earning their (rather generous) allowance. Getting those 3 kids to do their chores was like pulling teeth. Now, several years later, the kids do basically nothing and the parents do all the work…but the kids still get their allowance. This won’t happen in our house. When I was young, my brother and I alternated nights cleaning off the table and sweeping and loading the dishwasher and wiping off the counters. We knew that we had to do our assigned job after dinner, regardless of how much homework we had or other things to do.
OMSH said:
Thanks for the link and the photos are adorable. I like to think of li’l kiddos getting their hands “dirty” in the kitchen is the first step to forming a future chef!
I could certainly use a chef as they get older and hungrier! HA!
Breanna said:
I’m with you one this one. I have trying to be better about getting the kids to help out. Sometimes I get lazy, and think it is just easier if I do it myself, but I know it’s best for them to take part. And they actually like helping me, which is nice!
Angela said:
I couldn’t agree with you more. Norah’s favorite thing to help with is still unloading the dishwasher. It takes me WAY longer with her helping, but it’s worth it to me, to let her. Aidan looks too cute in her little apron. (Norah’s recently decided that if I have one on…which is a lot…then she wants one too, even if she’s playing on the other end of the house!)
Kat said:
Yup, yup, yup! I’m gonna have to get or make Charlotte an apron. I can see her wanting to wear one when she helps in the kitchen.
I’m with you on kids and chores too. My brother and I did the dishes every night and cleaned bathrooms once a week. Can’t say it made me a great housekeeper though! ; )
Yazmin said:
I have to agree with the helping around the house. Not having any family members graduated from college, my mom was very into making sure I did well academically and basically, that was my job.
It’s funny the things you notice when you grow up…like when my stepfather decided I should help around the house, I developed a habit of just washing my own dishes instead of washing all the dishes. Something I picked up so that I could say that I didn’t have to clean any of the dishes since I had cleaned up the ones I used. lol
My teenage rebellion, I suppose.