"Beatrice!" I called out.
"What?"
"Please come put away the cleaner and throw the paper towel away."
"Why?"
"Because the job isn't done until everything's put away."
"Fine."
Reluctantly Beatrice trudged into the kitchen and did what I asked. Which I shouldn't have had to ask, since this is something we repeat over and over again.
But then again, we have come a long way from little kid world, where like most parents, my wife Amy and I did all the things (yes, Amy does more of the things, but I do things, too!). This included cleaning around the house, putting their toys away, emptying the dishwasher, folding clothes, getting the mail, feeding the pets, walking the dog in the rain and picking up her poop, etc.
Like that part in one of our favorite holiday movies The Family Man, when Jack Campbell and his wife Kate return from the Christmas party and their dog needs to go outside. Jack doesn't want to do it and Kate jokes that she'll wake up their toddler Josh to walk the dog out in the cold snow. Of course they don't do that, so Jack acquiesces and walks the dog, like he does every day and night, picking up the dog poop along the way.
For those who have seen the movie (we've watching it every year since it came out in 2000 when we saw it in the theater), you may remember this part when Jack, Kate and their kids are in the mall shopping and Jack wants to buy the expensive suit:
Jack: Do you have any idea what my life is like?
Kate : Excuse me?
Jack : I wake up in the morning covered in dog saliva. I drop the kids off, spend 8 hours selling tires retail. Retail, Kate. I pick the kids up, walk the dog, which by the way, carries the added bonus of carting away her monstrous crap. I play with the kids, take out the garbage, get 6 hours of sleep if I'm lucky and then everything starts all over again. So-so what's in it for me? Wh-where are my-my Mary Janes?
That's something Amy and I joke about all the time -- one of our many ongoing catch phrases -- Where are my Mary Janes?
Because really, what are we going to do? Make our little kiddos do all the housework? Don't get me wrong, we thought about it once they start to walk and make messes everywhere they walked. But, this isn't Little House on the Prairie, and we don't live way out in the country or have a farm or a dairy, so instead, we waited until we thought they were old enough to be more responsible around the house. About two years ago we started giving our girls an allowance based on completing chores around the house. When you first teach your kids to help around the house, it's more about the act of doing chores and learning the value of money for work, then it is getting the chores done like we the adults in the room want them to get done.
They are just kids after all and there is a learning curve to getting housework right. When I was their age, my sister and I learned how to clean house from our mother. Although both my sister and I had our standard chores, Mom learned quickly that if she wanted the chores done more thoroughly, she'd ask me, although I took a long time to get them done. I was a daydreamer and dawdler, that's for sure. But when Mom wanted the chores done quickly, like when if we were going to have company coming over at a specific time, then the work went to my sister, who was super efficient (and I would argue just as thorough as well, even if there were a few shortcuts here and there).
Our girls more or less complete their chores with the same speed and efficiency, except when they tell us they did one and it's obvious that they didn't do it (that'll be a future post). One of the things our youngest Bryce does is to vacuum downstairs. She does a pretty good job, although we have to remind her to vacuum every part of open carpet, and I still go over the traffic areas again myself. Our oldest Beatrice cleans all the sinks and the granite counters, although we have to remind her to not just smear the cleaner around on the counters, but to wipe and dry them off, too.
And then to put the dang cleaner away and throw away the paper towel!
But they're working on it and we continue to incrementally add chores for them to do while ensuring completion of each one -- and until the job is done. Since we're home all the time due to the ongoing pandemic, there's never been a better time to add more chores. The girls even negotiate with us now, especially when they want to earn more money for stuff they want, like when Beatrice bought her iPad from the bank of Mom and Dad.
This also includes walking our dog, Jenny, even walking her in the rain like the girls just did with me, although Mom and Dad are still the primary pooper scoopers.
"So, where are our Mary Janes," I said to Amy when we returned, again referencing The Family Man.
She laughed. "Exactly, but really, where are my Mary Janes, Dad! I've been cleaning this house since 6:30 am! C'mon!"
"We love you, Mom!"
Other "Days of Coronavirus" posts:
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