Put your peels in the garbage.
Put your plate in the dishwasher.
Cup and silverware too.
Hang back up your wet towel.
Get your clothes on.
Take your dirties to the laundry.
Don't hit your sister.
We don't need to yell.
Use a softer voice.
The dishwasher needs to be emptied.
Wipe the table/counter off.
The laundry needs to be changed.
The floor still isn't swept
Your clothes still aren't folded.
Put your clothes away.
Put the books back on the shelf.
Clean up after yourself.
Shoes in the shoe place.
Don't jump on the furniture.
Don't whistle in the house.
Your jacket is just sitting on the floor.
Sticks don't come in the house.
The house has to be clean before we can _________ (go to the park, have legos down, go for a bike ride).
Flush the toilet.
You don't need to use that much paper.
Now you get to clean the floor.
No you can not play the wii.
I am feeling like I just spit out the same phrases over and over again, day in and day out. I must not be doing a very good job at getting my kids to do anything or help me around the house. They work but I have to ride them the entire time. I feel like the slave master with a strong whip. Am I expecting too much to think that my kids could actually do a few things without me having to remind them 50 times?!
My husband has told me that I seem to always be in a bad mood. Somehow I am expected to get my kids to work and do it with a smile. Or else I just have to do all the work myself and be happy about it. I guess I am just not that patient and good humored. I get tired of being the task master and I have a hard time enjoying the life of the scullery maid, housekeeper, governess, cook, washer woman all in one. I am not very good at it either because our house seems to constantly be a mess. I just don't know how to get results. My kids are used to working. They have been taught how to do the tasks. It isn't a new experience. They are capable, they just require reminding and reminding... and usually reminding again.
This broken record is worn out!
Maybe that is why my hair is turning so gray.
3 comments:
You forgot one constant statement: "Shut the door!" I think I used to say that twenty million times a day. Look at yourself. Somehow, you may have ignored all the repeated commands, but you do them now. You finally learned how important/courteous/helpful your actions are. Don't despair. That's just life with children.
Sigh. I wish I had something encouraging to say but its like that around here too most days. Sending you some sympathy.
Check out chorewars.com. It makes doing chores fun, and the competition is great (it works for Luke even though he's just competing with me and his Dad!) You can customize the chores for your household. We started out going in to claim the chores a lot, but now Luke will often just do the chore without running right over to the make sure that I record his points. So at first it might seem labor intensive, but it sure made things more pleasant around here! :-) I'm impressed with everything your kids do and I love your descriptions of how they tackle their tasks - they sound right on knowing each of them as I do!
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