I am enjoying hopping around the blog world for the Ultimate Blog Party 2010, getting to know new bloggers and finding all sorts of people just like me! 🙂
but in the meanwhile… in the real world…
Yesterday I had to go into my daughter’s closet to get some clothes for her. She had slept over at a friend’s place, a spontaneous moment, and didn’t have any clothes to go to church in. I opened her sock drawer and I was shocked. I know she’s an organized kid but shocked to see exactly how much!!
I do not put away my children’s clothes. They do it themselves. I am the “TRAIN up a child” type mom more than the “Here let Mom do that for you” mom. Even my 4 year old puts away his own clothes. It may not be the way “I” would do it, but to me it’s far more important that he learns to do it. (I do fold his laundry for him… otherwise it wouldn’t fit in his drawers.)
Each child puts away their own clothing differently. You’ve seen what my daughter’s drawers look like. By the way, she’s done this all on her own. I do not fold her laundry for her. I sort the freshly cleaned wash and hand her her pile, unfolded and all mixed up. Have I mentioned that she’s only 9??! Well, she’d correct me and say, “I’m almost 10!” and yes she is, in just over a month, my only princess will be 10.
So it made me curious, I had to check out how her older brother puts away his clothes. Like I said… I’ve been busy hopping around the blogosphere this weekend to pay attention to the real world stuff… (don’t judge :-p). When I opened up his drawers, I found only a few pieces of clothes in each of them… see the 3 lonely shirts…
Do you want to know why those 3 little shirts are lonely??!
Check out his floor!!
The differences between boys and girls are very obvious in my home!
Missy’s room. She hasn’t missed a day – that I can remember – that she hasn’t made her bed since she was little little, usually it’s less lumpy than today…
Q’s room. Now he does make his bed everyday and usually the floor of his room isn’t this messy… to his defense… his 2 younger brothers have been playing in his room when he’s not home:
I won’t show you Jake and Li Li’s room!!! hahaha I will have to get the cleaning fairies in there before they get home from school… it’s a little overwhelming even for me! Fort making was the order of the day on Saturday….
I’ll show you their beds though. Jake’s bed is the one in the background, the made one. Li Li who’s 7, hasn’t caught on yet to the joys of making your bed in the morning!
I’m interested in learning what chores your kids do in your home? How involved are your children in the day to day stuff? Laundry, dishes, bedrooms, bathrooms, interior, exterior, etc. type stuff.
C just dumps her stuff into her sock/underwear drawer…which explains why she seldom has matching socks on.
Are you telling me my boys won't grow out of this 'messy' stage? Noooooo! =)
My 4 and 6 yr old sons put up their own clothes and pick up their toys. They also help me clean up and set the table.
Stopping in from the #ubp10 🙂 I have my 5 kids help out around the house too. They pick up their rooms, help with laundry and dishes and pick up toys. Have a great day!
I swear it is not a sex thing it is a gene! Check out my dirty minivan competition and you will see what gene I got! My husband is the opposite. I want your daughter to come do my closet.
My 3yo boy is ALL OVER cleaning. He helps me empty the dishwasher, dryer, he sweeps, he windexes…and on the list goes! I am in agreement with you…I WON'T be one of those moms who serves her children. You learn through doing yes? I love your daughter's drawer, that's awesome!
Hey there fellow Canuk – you're the first Canadian I've come across at UBP! Thanks for sharing your room photos – priceless and may I say "SO true" about boys and girls!
Anyway, take care… thanks for this post, eh?!
We don't have chores for the kids (to be fair our younger two are two and 11 months) but we do have 'family cleaning time' in which all of the kids that can are required to find a way that they can help. We don't give them lists because our focus is on teaching the kids to notice things and make the effort to help on their own-so far so good! During family cleaning time our oldest will usually pick up toys, sweep, or rinse dishes and put them in the sink (he's 6) and our 2 year old will pick up her things and put them away or pick up papers (usually the ones she shredded) and throw it in the can.
I really think that messiness levels are just personality based. Our oldest is a boy and he picks up his room every day and has since he was 2 even though I never asked him to. He's like my husband-he gets really bent out of shape if things are cluttered and can't relax until he picks up. Our middle daughter shows no such tendencies (she's like her mother!). She'll put things away during cleaning time because she thinks it's a game, but she's totally relaxed with her little piles of stuff all over the house.
Still, it is nice to have at least once child who is organized!
I'm having such a great time reading your blog…so glad I found you through UBP =)
Interesting blog Shannon. Jim and I differed quite drastically on "chores" for our kids. His belief system..children are children and need to play and enjoy life while they can, because when you become an adult, responsibility takes over and childlike fun stops. Mind?…. children should be like little adults, responsible, with chores, little "pre adult jobs" and all that (which is what I was taught). I wanted our kids to have chores..he wanted them to be free to play and have fun. His servant heart made it so that the kids had NO chores, and he and I did all the house keeping. You know what? Dani keeps the tidyest, cleanest house I've ever seen…Kelan is not far behind her. All the "words of wisdom" that said we had to "teach" our children responsibility by giving them responsibility over chores did not prove as successful as having them watch us keep an orderly house and emulate that themselves when they had their own houses…go figure. In the end, what works works