New Chores for Little Ones

Here she goes, headed out into the morning rain to learn a new chore and take care of our chickens and goats.

Her brother has been asking why he has all the chores - and pointing out that he had more chores when he was her age than she has now.  It's a common problem with siblings - the older one gets more of the responsibilities and pressure, and the younger is allowed to remain the "baby" for longer.  It's tempting, when I have something that needs doing, to ask the older child to do it - he's more capable and I've already invested the time in teaching him how to do it.

But that is a temptation that needs to be resisted, as it's a disservice to the girl to not teach her how to be responsible and do these chores as well.

For now, I'm sending them both out to the barn to do the chores (and Dad shadowed behind for this first morning out, to make sure Big Brother as a good and patient teacher).  Carbon is showing his sister how to do it, and helping her do it for now.  (I pay for eggs collected, so they're splitting the egg money as well).  Then, we'll start taking turns and having each do those chores on alternating days.

Besides animal chores, there are more chores headed their way as well.  I'm going to have them unload and load the dishwasher, as well as vacuuming, dusting, and cleaning bathrooms.  And I'm not going to always be stooping to pick up their stuff for them and put it away, but will instead be listing off items I see out of place and having them pick up after themselves.

I've got big kids now.  And I'm going to treat them like it.