*Fingernails-on-a-blackboard shrill, in case you were wondering...
I'm thinking that perhaps the answer to that question is NO.
[Girl sweeping image: KidClipArt]
Monday, September 17, 2012
I Prefer Whistling
A lot has been written about the importance of giving children chores -- all about how it makes them feel more responsible and capable to be contributing to the household, blah, blah, blah. And, even though my personal experience has given the lie to those theories, I still insist on my kids doing their fair share around the house, if only to make sure that I don't feel like the household slave. I also cherish the hope that, by teaching my boys how to do laundry and wipe down bathrooms, I will earn the undying devotion of my future daughters-in-law.
But, as always, practice and theory do not sit well together. Yes, I am able to sit here checking my Facebook page as my 7-year-old finishes up her household tasks; but all is not as paradisiacal as it might seem. Tell me, people, can it truly be worthwhile to make a child wipe down the table and sweep, if that means I am then subjected to a very shrill* concert of songs she makes up as she completes her chores?
*Fingernails-on-a-blackboard shrill, in case you were wondering...
I'm thinking that perhaps the answer to that question is NO.
[Girl sweeping image: KidClipArt]
*Fingernails-on-a-blackboard shrill, in case you were wondering...
I'm thinking that perhaps the answer to that question is NO.
[Girl sweeping image: KidClipArt]
It could be worse... whining, perhaps?
ReplyDeleteThis is a very tough question. I assume the shrill singing is some sort of passive-aggressive punishment for the person who assigned the chore (you)? It would be hard to endure that. For me, sometimes the legalistic arguing I have to put up with before the child submits to doing the chore isn't worth it.
ReplyDeleteI thought I had taught my 13-yr-old how to do her own laundry. But the other day she 'washed' a whole load without remembering to turn on the water pipe to the washer. She thought it was a miracle that after an hour of her clothes being in the washer, and without having put them in the dryer, the clothes were all dry!
It's not meant as punishment for me; she's just fascinated lately with singing in a falsetto. Painful.
DeleteMy daughter has a very "interesting" singing voice. It's very nasal. But in the last two or three years though, I have noticed that it's getting better. :) Soldier on, friend. Soldier on!
ReplyDeleteThat's what is so frustrating! Susie actually has the best voice of all the kids; she doesn't HAVE to sound this way.
DeleteHa! When my boys have complained about why they have to do a chore, I sometimes respond, "Because I want your future wife to love me." With five boys and only one daughter, I need to keep those future daughters-in-law in mind, too.
ReplyDeleteHeadphones?
ReplyDeleteIt might come to that.
DeleteI'm also one of those moms hoping her future DILs like her...hence the bathroom cleaning lessons I gave T last summer.
ReplyDelete"Paradisiacal" is my new favorite word. Mostly because I choose to believe that it rhymes with "maniacal."
ReplyDeleteYour daughter is an evil genius.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I'd pop some earbuds into my ears to tune out the concert AND also benefit from having some of the chores done by someone else.
ReplyDelete