This could also be titled, who to get your little darlings to do stuff for you so you don't have to do it.
And before you think I'm getting all Mary Poppinsy on you, don't worry, I am not magic, don't carry a freakish carpet bag and neither do my kids enjoy doing mundane tasks. Happily, I do have occasional success, sadly it's mostly when cash is involved.
Exhibit A. The self serve checkout.
After a bit of training, she can beep like a champion. |
Excellent technique. |
Exhibit B. The dishwasher.
Ok now I'll admit I pay Sarah to empty this, or at least, it's part of her pocket money requirements. But it works a treat. Sometimes I'll even come downstairs in the morning to find it empty, with only a few items left on the bench because she can't reach the cupboards they're in. This is because our kitchen is COMPLETELY CRAP.
Advice: The ideal kitchen layout for this to garner the most benefits is one where none of the dishwasherable items are stored above the benches. Unlikely and impractical? Sadly yes.
Exhibit C. The recycling.
Now the handy part about this one, is that school is really big on environmental stuff. So for Josh to be responsible for taking out the recycling not only helps me, but makes him a star to his teacher on news day. Every day or so, he pulls out the two manky old beer cartons from under the sink (one for bottles, one for paper) and dumps them unceremoniously into their appropriate council bins outside. For this, he receives $2 a week.
Manky beer cartons go with our current kitchen decor. |
Advice B: In order to avoid finding a lot of paper in your bottle bin (tricky), or bottles in your paper bin (trickier), make sure the child doing the labour can tell blue from yellow and understands the significance of keeping each type of recycling separate.
Exhibit D. Bed Making.
This is compulsory from age 5 and there is no cash benefit. So stop arguing, just do it. I don't care if your doona fell off in the night, how are you supposed to make your way in the world as a responsible adult if a dropped doona stops you dead? Pick it up and put it back on. And don't complain to me if your bed is "crinkly" when you get in it at night, you should have straightened the undersheet properly.
Not bad. |
While all this industrious activity goes on, I recline gracefully on the couch, sipping cool drinks and watching Oprah...no, sorry Ellen.
Yeah right.