chorin'

Keats

There are some chores/responsibilities that most families do weekly which we find we must do daily. Ten pairs of feet track a lot through the house, so vacuuming is on the list. As with everything else, we work hard to share the wealth and if you're old enough to move on your own, you're old enough to pitch in.

Scott and I are firm believers in the idea that you should learn to work hard, serve cheerfully, and do a job you can be proud of. But we also recommend finding a way to pass the time as enjoyably as possible.

We don't allow the kids to have anything which encourages isolation in a crowd, so none of them have a DS, their own iPod, their own cell phones, or anything else which would enable you to escape human interaction when surrounded by people. So being able to use the iPod with headphones is a true privilege. And as you can't hear much with the drone of the vacuum anyway, it is a match made in heaven.

Keats and Aidan have both been practicing becoming proficient at vacuuming in order to gain the end-of-the-day iPod time, and it has been a fun process. Neither are very good at catching everything yet, but they work hard and serve cheerfully while doing the best job they are able to.

One of the most encouraging aspects of our large family is watching the baton passing of responsibility from one child to another. Isabelle trained Tucker to take over her chore of cleaning the downstairs bathroom. She was responsible for showing him how it was done, then working together for a few weeks and once Tucker took the job over fully, it was Isabelle who inspected his work. The pride they both shared was enormous the day Tucker passed his inspection the first time.

As I slowly work myself out of a job with each of these precious Little Rutherfords, I am continuously amazed at just how easily they step up to the plate of responsibility. None of them are perfect and all of them have areas they struggle with (just ask Dawson about having to give baths for 2 weeks straight)  but I have never once felt the need to say "I can't wait til they move out!"

Well, let's be honest. When they move out, I'll be left with all the chorin' to myself again. Who would wish for that?