When it comes to my kids, it's usually all my fault. Doesn't
matter what the issue is, my kids will blame me. But this latest escapade of
mine, well, they can blame it on Leona.
Two of my brothers, Andrew and John, have a genetic disease which required a
therapist to come to our house twice a day to do 30-minute therapies on each
boy when we were growing up. One of these therapists was Leona Kerber.
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| My brother Andrew (34 this year in October) and his wife, Jessica |
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| My brother John (32 this year) and his bride, Cassie |
Leona was probably in her 60s. She was married to Harold, a farmer with a corny sense of humor who assured me he was "outstanding in his field." Leona and Harold became part of our family.
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| Harold and Leona Kerber on their 40th anniversary |
When I was nine years old, Leona told my mother it was
high-time I had chores. My mom was a single parent doing licensed daycare to
pay the bills, and she was great at it. But trying to do daycare and keep a
semblance of order in the house is next to impossible (if not impossible).
Since there were six kids in my family, this also meant my siblings got chores,
too.
Well, here we are about three decades later, and I now get
to reap my vengeance.
A few weeks ago, I had had it with never having any visible
floor space. It was always cluttered with My Little Ponies, Barbies and Polly
Pockets (which vacuum up quite nicely, thank you very much). So the rather
wimpy chore list was ramped up.
For years, the only chores the girls had were emptying and
filling the dishwasher. One of my favorite memories, caught on video, is 6-year-old Annika training her little sister in on how to properly fill our
apartment-sized, portable dishwasher. Until recently, that job hadn't changed
much.
Our oldest daughter was excited at first for the new chore
chart. About a year ago, she got tired of her one chore of filling the
dishwasher. So she offered to clean the bathroom instead. I jumped at that
opportunity! And then promptly shifted the dish duty to the next daughter in
line.
With the news that chores were changing, Annika thought she
was going to get out of doing the bathroom since the six-year-old offered to do
it. There was some suspense as I pondered for a few days how many chores and
which ones I could feasibly put on my new chore spreadsheet.
Thanks to Leona and a few parenting articles which encourage
autonomy in kids, I felt comfortable giving even the five-year-old some chores.
And so far, with the exception of clean bedrooms, it's going pretty well.
Annika and Lauren, the eight-year-old, both make dinner one
night a week. This has been a blast!
We've been trying out recipes I've had in
my binder for years but have never made. Lauren even got to use the meat tenderizer
to flatten some chicken for some seriously yummy chicken-wrapped asparagus. On
Monday, Annika chopped and diced onions and green peppers, and browned
hamburger to make an Italian skillet dish. And measuring ingredients along with
doubling recipes is great for helping reinforce math and familiarity with
fractions while making them a lot less dependent on ramen noodles and mac and
cheese for college food fare.
Lauren and Annika also now share responsibility for washing
dishes that can't be put in the dishwasher. Emily inherited filling the
dishwasher (with a good attitude, we remind her) while Megan, our youngest,
empties it of the clean dishes and puts them away or stacks them on the counter
if they go in the upper cabinets. Emily and Megan also tag-team to pick up the
living room and vacuum it, which Emily loves doing.
Lauren and Annika tag-team on putting away leftovers and
washing the table and counters along with sweeping the kitchen and dining room.
As for the bathroom, well, Annika still does half of it.
Emily begged us to let her clean part of it so she gets the mirror and the
sink.
The house is far from perfect, but cleanliness has become a
much more united effort. Leona would be proud.
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