GETTING THE KIDS HELPING OUT

Those who know me well know that I keep my boys fairly well disciplined most the time. I like to keep their bedtimes the same just about every night. They are not allowed to leave the inside of the house without shoes on nor are they are allowed to play in the front yard. Our front door (or veranda gate) is always locked and they are not to play with Mummy and Daddy's phones, laptops or go venturing into Daddy's office.

Sounds a bit harsh? Perhaps. Mind you the rewards certainly pay off when we have all 4 boys sleeping straight through the night and a happy home where rules aren't made up on the spot. The boys have boundaries and always know what to expect from us. They have learnt to respect valuable belongings and to treat each other with love and compassion. Sure they have their odd arguments at times for the most part they are really good kids.

The one area of discipline I've been slow to take on with the boys however is housework. I am very mindful that I need to show them what to do and how to do it so they are able to care for their own homes when they are older, but I'm also very wary not to let them feel like they are being treated as my own personal little slaves. Lately I've been explaining the concept of a whole family helping out in order to keep a house looking clean and tidy.

The older boys have been responsible for tidying up their own toys now for quite some years now but up until this year I've not really given them any regular chores so to speak. Just lately I'd been thinking how nice it would be to get a bit of help with the dishes. I'm sure most people would agree that handwashing dishes for a family of 6 can sometimes be a nightmare. Imagine my surprise when Bailey suggested he should start doing the washing up for me! I was worried at first he wouldn't do a good enough job so gave him some plastic plates the first few days and then I realised he was doing a better job than me!!

Bailey has been washing up the plastics most days now for the past fortnight and not only does he love helping out it's also made the rest of the dishes so much less daunting for me to complete :)

Dane asked if there was a special job he could do so he wipes the table down now after every meal. He also likes to grab my upright stick vacuum and have a bit of a go with that. In fact Bailey & Dane take it in turns as they love using it so much.

What I am realising now is that by introducing the concept of helping your family and being considerate of other people I've automatically introduced the idea of helping with household chores without to need to actually delegate or enforce them. Bailey, Dane and Ehren continually surprise me with their helpful gestures which makes me so proud that they are growing to be beautiful, caring young boys. I'm definitely one lucky Mum!