Teaching Kids to do Mom's Chores

I feel crippled. Not to take away from people who are actually crippled and not just temporarily without the use of an appendage, but seriously, it takes me 3-4 times longer to do the simplest of tasks. Not being able to do things for myself and my family is extremely humbling! This unbelievably expensive accidental broken wrist has limited my ability to run a functional household and I've been forced to make some adjustments.

During the week, Mike is really only home and available for a few short hours to help catch up all that has been neglected throughout the day. So, I've had to solicit my tiny little helpers and begin to train them in the ways of major household chores.

Yesterday, Ryan made oatmeal from start to finish all by himself. The last time he attempted that, he walked away from the pot and it overcooked into a hard, cement-like lump in the pot. (That was not very fun to clean by the way!) But yesterday, 100% success. Absolutely delicious and the pride on his face was priceless. He's been making eggs for quite some time, and now that he has the oatmeal formula down, I only need to teach him how to make smoothies and our regular breakfast menu has a competent new mini-chef.

The next big task that needed attention was folding laundry. After cycling two loads of towels the other day, I left the kids to get all the folding done before they were allowed to play with their friends. They came through like champs, and I only had to take a brief moment to teach Ryan how to fold the towels so that they would fit in the cabinet, then teach Kaylin how to fold the kitchen towels so that they were functional and stackable, not "pretty". (I am now wishing that I would've taken a picture of the "pretty" towels before they were refolded…they were a tower of lumps, piled high in a criss-cross pattern.)

The bottom line is this: it's so much easier to do things ourselves. Teaching kids is a painstaking, patience–building process. But when you're in a position that you have no choice, like I am now, you may as well take the time to teach them correctly. So this is the perfect opportunity for me to sit back and monitor new jobs until they are done well.

They've really had to step up, these kids of mine. I don't always thank them as much as I should throughout the day, but I've made sure that every night at bedtime, they know how much I appreciate their hard work and that I acknowledge all that they did that day. Because it's a lot. 

 Maybe this inability to do chores for weeks and weeks is going to turn out okay after all...?