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Bridget
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| Posted: Jan 30 2006 at 7:39am | IP Logged
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So, what jobs are you finding that just have to be done by mom? How far can you go in transferring household management to those growing children?
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Bridget, happily married to Kevin, mom to 8 on earth and a small army in heaven
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teachingmyown
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We went without a dishwasher for over a month until this past weekend. I found that I could not trust the kids to hand wash the dishes to my satisfaction. Our water is slightly soft and has to be very hot to wash off all the grease. The kids would try, but I finally fired them. Charlie (14) did a good job, but I mostly handled it myself.
I don't spend enough time training the kids, obviously, because there are many jobs I end up doing myself or doing over again because I am not satisfied.  I still keep laundry to myself, even Court doesn't get that right. 
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Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
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Jenny
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I can't wait to read the replies. My oldest dd's are 7, 6, & 4. They rotate between
Laundry-gathering dirty & putting up clean. I am sure they could fold so I need to add that. Although I do enjoy folding.
Kitchen-unloading the dishwasher & sweeping. Maybe they are ready to start loading?
Pick up, sometimes I let them: vaccumn, dust, clean windows. Maybe I should let do those more. Those are the choice jobs b/c they fuss over who gets to them.
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Jenny
Chris' wife and momma of 7. My blog: The Littlest Way--Bible Journaling, Inspiring Bible Quotes, Daily Affirmations, Prayer Journaling & photography
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Rachel May
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Hmmmm, it's easier to say what they can do at this point.
Thomas loads the dishwasher (in training still).
Anthony...what does he do? I know it's something because he always gets distracted and I'm always saying, "ANTHONY!"
Maria provides water for meals and sets the table sometimes.
Charles recylces.
Cecilia looks cute. We set everyone to work in age order, and she stands there so expectantly, so I started saying, "Cecilia, look cute." She sort of stared so I said, "Try harder." The attention made her grin so that is now her usual chore. It makes us all set off to work a little more cheerfully.
The only one I can add is showering (not bathing) a younger sibling. Once the olders got pretty good at "shower school", we assigned showering youngers for extra practice.
Now that I'm getting fairly big, I sit in the bathroom and let them bathe the littles, but I won't let them do it without me. I often assign this to Anthony since he's the slowest in the tub. We have a huge tub that fits all 5 at once.
I had a friend who had her 7 or 8 yo wipe the boys' toilet with a clorox wipe every morning. We're not quite there yet at our house.
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Rachel
Thomas and Anthony (10), Maria (8), Charles (6), Cecilia (5), James (3), and Joseph (1)
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Sarah
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My ds9- makes all the beds, except ds7's, unloads dishwasher, drops laundry from hampers down chute, and gives the dog water. he is reluctant but capable of picking up & putting folded laundry away. We also rotate between wiping tables, setting table, and swepping (which is never to my satisfaction)
Ds7-vacuums entry with broom vac (mediocre at best), feeds dog, makes own bed (lumpy), and empties silverware bin. Also rotates abpve kitchen job.
I can occasionally ask ds9 to switch laundry from waher to dryer, but I have to do the wash.
Occasionally I ask for help with windexing, or dusting, or mopping, but its never even close to actually clean, so that gets done by me. . .or not at all. 
I'm debating hired help. I'll start a thread about it now.
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Six boys ages 16, 14, 11, 7, 5, 2 and one girl age 9
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MEBarrett
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Rachel May wrote:
Cecilia looks cute. We set everyone to work in age order, and she stands there so expectantly, so I started saying, "Cecilia, look cute." She sort of stared so I said, "Try harder."
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That is adorable! 
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Mary Ellen
Mom to seven beautiful kids
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humanaevitae
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I say transfer as much as you can!
I know that I will always do most of the laundry. I am very fussy with it. Other than that- all other household chores are fair game. It seems to boil down to what tasks I have time to teach them. I don't give a job to a kid unless I provide detailed instruction first. I also work along side or watch the first few times. Then for the next few weeks I check their work afterwards. Reteaching if necessary (almost always happens!) So... I don't start transfering a chore over until I myself am able to make it a priority to teach and correct them. I don't want my kids to get use to doing a job half way. And yes, it does seem easier to just do the job myself but I want my kids to be able to manage a household so we struggle on....
If we all want to play, we must all work 
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Nicole-Zane 10, Elizabeth 7, Xavier 4, and John Patrick 2
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Loren
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I read a quote a while back: Train your kids like they won't have you next year, love them like you won't have them next year.
My 6yo empties the trash, wipes the sinks, and sets the table. My 8yo feeds the dog, loads the dishwasher, and vaccums the living room. My 10yo does laundry, sweeps and vaccums upstairs, and cleans the mirrors. My 12yo cleans the kitchen (including emptying the dishwasher), cleans the toilets, vaccums downstairs, and does laundry. They are each responsible for their own beds and rooms.
I do most of the cooking, but right now they are making Ramen noodles for lunch. I also follow along behind them, saying "Scrub that spot, there," and "Don't forget to pick that up." I think I am working on getting them to be responsible for their own jobs, so that they can take care of themselves later.
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4Real Forums : Mothering and Family Life
Topic: mom jobs
