Blame it on Leona

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.

My brother Andrew (34 this year in October) and his wife, Jessica

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.

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.