On entering high school our oldest two began doing their own washing. Sure, it cut down on our washing pile a bit, but mainly we wanted them to learn to fend for themselves. I know in some families the kids do more: I know some families the kids do nothing. I know one family where the winds of change have started blowing.
You see, I had a chat at work with a lady who told me how, on the way to school this morning, her fourteen year old son volunteered to do his own washing. Kinda.
"What's that on your shirt?" she asked her son as he jumped into the car.
"Rexona." Seems he'd pulled on a dirty shirt and sprayed a bit of scent to mask the smell. And he wasn't happy about it. "I had to because I don't have any clean shirts."
"I bought you four! Where are they all?"
"On my floor. You haven't cleaned them."
"Why haven't you put them in the wash?"
"I told you to. Last night when I was in the bathroom I yelled out and told you where they were."
"Oh, I see what you're saying now. You think this was my fault."
"Yeah well you do my washing."
Not anymore.
She took her son's criticism of her laundering to be his volunteering to take care of his own laundry needs from now on. And in case you're thinking she handled this calmly she's fairly certain the people driving in the other cars could hear her 'talking' to her son about his attitude.
I'm thinking, if her son's in charge of his own washing, she might want to stock up on deodorant spray.
She took her son's criticism of her laundering to be his volunteering to take care of his own laundry needs from now on. And in case you're thinking she handled this calmly she's fairly certain the people driving in the other cars could hear her 'talking' to her son about his attitude.
I'm thinking, if her son's in charge of his own washing, she might want to stock up on deodorant spray.
1 comment:
I love how some kids think their parents' job is to run around after them like a pseudo slave! My mum lost her mother when she was 19 and she always had a fear that she would go before we had grown up, so it was really important to her that we were able to fend for ourselves. We were expected to do chores like washing up, sorting washing, hanging and folding washing, vacuuming, cleaning bathrooms etc. Thank goodness she is still with us, but at least when I left home I could keep a clean house. I had to teach my husband how to iron and sort washing!!!
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