As much as I love my babies, everyday my goal is to get them ready to leave me. Living on their own and surviving, thriving and making the world a better place is hopefully going to be easier because of the hardships their mother put them through. I let them experience disappointment, pain, and work on a regular basis. Having children learn to work is difficult. You have to put up with the not-the-way-I-would-do-it of complete jobs, the whining and complaining that may accompany the supposed completion of a job, and even the training and teaching and constant supervision that may accompany the whining and complaining of the horribly done job. At any rate, my kids have learned to do a lot. They are what we call "experts" at many different household tasks at this point.
Last summer I spent a lot of time having the kids help with meal preparations. They learned how to make some simple dinner meals and have fully mastered lunch and breakfasts. This summer has been a lot less structured in so many ways, and that is one of many tasks that has fallen by the wayside. And so it was without any ulterior training plan that one night last week, exhausted and tired of making three meals a day every day, I turned the dinner preparation over to the kids completely and went and sat on the couch.
The meal was tacos. Simple enough and with enough tasks for everyone to help. Surprisingly the kids went the extra mile, set the table nicely, wrote notes to Mr. Man and I telling us of their love and to leave the table when we were done eating so they could clean up without us. Somehow, giving them a little responsibility, turned them into overachievers ready to continue giving. And it didn't end there. We were given breakfast menus to choose from that night, and breakfast came to us in bed the following morning. Notes and gifts have kept coming for no apparent reason, and they keep asking when they get to be in charge of dinner again.
I guess I need to learn to GIVE them more responsibility if I want to expect more out of them.
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4 comments:
sheesh that sounds awesome I need my kids to get older and some Aunty Renee training!:)
WOW! That's all I can really say...WOW!
I will continue to say "You are a Great Mom"! Raising your children to be independent is so the right thing to do. The rewards of Motherhood are in the fruits of your labours--I know :)
Wow! Can your kids come stay with me for a few days?!? :)
What a lovely reward for all of the hard work you continue to put into raising wonderful children. May you continue to see those rewards bit by bit along the way!
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