The older kids had daily/weekly scheduled chores from about age 10+. Things like vacuuming, doing the dishes, pet care, mowing, trash, laundry, dusting, bathrooms, etc. Hannah does these to some extent, but now it's time for her to give her allotment of slave labor. She has some chores to master soon.
#1. Dishes. She already does the dishwasher, but she needs to start doing the hand washing. This is James' realm since the older kids moved out. I'm the cooker, he's the cleaner. And I make a mess when I cook. Why use one pot when you can use five instead?
#2. Her own laundry. She's been doing Chris' laundry for a year or two, but she hasn't had to do much folding (he pays her $1.00/load), and he's not weekly. But now it's time for her to step up and do her own--wash, dry, fold, put away. Laundry is also James' realm, but I'll be the one to supervise Hannah on this since she'll likely be doing hers during the week.
We're molding her brain into "wanting" to do these things. We're white-washing her into thinking that chores are a good thing. Teamwork! I have no illusion that she'll fall for this, but it might last for a week or two.
She also will be learning to take her vitamins on her own. She measures them out already. She has no trouble swallowing them, plopped into spoonfuls of applesauce, but we're the ones shoveling them in. Soon she'll use her own spoon. This should be an easy transition for her.
But this will have to wait a bit because Hannah and I are taking a road trip! Friday we're heading up through Baltimore to Pennsylvania. For her birthday I am taking her to the Crayola Factory and we are very excited! My girl loves her some crayons, that's for sure! After that, we're going to Philadelphia to stay with my brother for a couple nights. We'll finish off the trip with an oral placement evaluation with none other than our favorite SLP, Sara Rosenfeld-Johnson. Isn't that a nice birthday present? Hannah's speech is relatively clear, but she still needs some tweaking with jaw strength and normalized tongue movement. I'd love for her to develop a clear crisp "s" and a more passable vocalic "r". I know what I need to do to get there, but I lack motivation, so we'll take a hit where it hurts the most (bank account) to get my fanny in gear and back into the oral exercises she needs.
When we return home, we'll have life in the fast lane! The very next day Hannah is in a short play for her theater class, and has her last pottery lesson. Plus, her very very good friend Shea (and my very very good friend Roxanne) will be arriving from North Carolina for birthday festivities!
Hannah has planned her celebration to include lunch at her favorite pasta restaurant, Angelo's, to be followed by a game of Lunar Golf (pretty cool place--mini-golf under black lights). She has five friends coming, and all of them are homeschooled (bonus--golf won't be crowded on a Friday at lunch time!). It should be lots of fun!
The best of everything is that it's warm outside today, and spring might actually come after all!
6 comments:
Sounds like so much fun!
I can't believe you are going to see SRJ. I feel totally worthless in that area...I know we did not do enough work.
Good luck with the chores. My kids do them too, although not very cheerfully.
You just always sound like the best mom! :) I refuse to let my kids read this blog, they might up their expectations... or uh, maybe not once they read other moms make their kids do horrible things like CHORES! :)
I had been planning on messaging you and asking about teaching Life Skills. Please share more!! How did you get where you are with Hannah? I am completely amazed that she can do laundry start to finish. I have wished Jessie could unload the dishwasher, but all the places where the dishes go are too high for her to reach (and I don't really have other options) even with a stool it wouldn't be safe. You definitely have me thinking.
I know each child is different, but I was wondering at what age did Hannah learn to do certain things independently...like brush her teeth (well enough!) and wash her hair (again, well enough!).
If you don't mind special requests, when you have time, would you consider sharing about some of these things?
the time goes so fast and they are all grown before we know it. hope she has a great bday!
I'm way late, but by the time of this comment, your beautiful Hannah is 12 years old! Twelve!
It sounds to me like Hannah can handle the chores -- I know she's a good cook from Cooking With Nan. :)
Laundry can be fun...dishes not so fun. I'm eager to read on and see her progression in all things pre-teen! (And your visit with Sara Rosenfeld-Johnson!
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