Routines and Household Jobs for Children

This post is longer than my usual, but it didn't seem easy to divide into parts.  I hope you find it helpful.   

  With the start of school, families with children may welcome the return of routines.  It seems like an appropriate time to share how my children contribute at home in order to earn a weekly allowance pay cheque.  I need to give credit to Sheila Wray Gregoire who led me in this direction through her book To Love, Honor and Vacuum.  I’ve stated before that I grew up on a farm, and that naturally led to us children pitching in and doing jobs for the benefit of the family.  Living in an urban setting is different, of course, but there are still plenty of ways to teach children important life skills through doing jobs and managing the money they earn from that.

   When our youngest was 5 years old, we started our current system of jobs and allowances.  The number of weekly jobs was equal to the age of the child.  The allowance was $1 per job, with half of that being directly deposited into the child’s savings account every month.  The remainder was given into the child’s hand to spend on school pizza days, church offerings, and as they got older clothing, birthday gifts for friends, and any non-essentials they wanted to save up for.

   Now that my children are 15, 13 and 11 (later this week) some may be wondering how to come up with that many jobs for each child.  Some suggestions follow:

·        Jobs for younger children (5 to 11 years old)

1.    help with cooking supper (tear lettuce for salad, arrange a cracker plate, make dream whip, put muffin papers in the pan and scoop in the batter, etc.) one assigned day per week

2.    sort dirty laundry into lights/darks/towels

3.    water plants outdoors

4.    sort silverware into the drawer after it has been washed and dried

5.    wash or dry dishes one day a week; or empty dishwasher once per week on an assigned day

6.    organize a kitchen drawer or pantry shelf each week

7.    set the table for one meal (breakfast or supper) every day

8.    clear the table after a meal (supper) every day

9.    put away fridge items after every meal, every day

10.  tidy bathroom vanities and restock toilet tissue

11.  fold clean towels as needed

12.  straighten shoes at front entrance as needed

13.  light dusting with a cloth (designated area) once per week

14.  clean own bedroom once a week (make bed, clear and sweep floor)

15.  sort recycling into paper and containers

·        Jobs for older children (age 12 and up)

1.    trim grass at edge of lawn and around trees with hand-held clipper

2.    cut lawn/shovel snow/rake leaves as needed during the appropriate season

3.    mix up frozen juice as needed

4.    help with cooking supper (grate cheese, peel potatoes, fry meat, chop vegetables, etc) one assigned day per week.

5.    change bed sheets of self and siblings, in rotation, once a week

6.    take clean clothes off the clothesline or out of the dryer as needed

7.    bake once a week for the family

8.    clean own bedroom to a higher standard

9.    practice piano or other instrument for which the child receives lessons

10.  sweep or dustbuster under the dining room table, daily

11.  fold clean laundry

12.  put out garbage or recycling to the curb

13.  make own lunch for school each day

14.  water house plants

   You may notice that “dirty jobs” are deliberately left off the list.  Cleaning toilets or emptying the compost will have to be learned and done eventually, but I don’t want the children to feel like slaves.

   A few questions I could anticipate:

What if the child does not do the assigned jobs?

In our family we have an all-or-nothing approach.  Allowance is not paid unless all the jobs are done by Saturday at suppertime.  Extensions are granted if the child has been away for all of Saturday (birthday party or excursion).  In fact, since there is an automatic deposit into the child’s savings account, we actually impose an equivalent fine for not doing their jobs that week.  In the past two years I cannot remember having this problem.

Doesn’t paying your child to be helpful around the house create a sense of entitlement?

Not in my experience.  Since my children now earn a sizable allowance, along with their paper route earnings, they pay for almost all of their own clothing and save up for bigger items.  Entitlement is more likely to result when a parent is lax about enforcing chores and yet continues to be “moneybags” whenever the child wants the latest electronic device or “needs” a whole new wardrobe for back-to-school.

Have you found any disadvantages to this system?

Sometimes my children become discouraged at how much time it takes to save up for items they want when they see their peers do not have to do the same.

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Appearance and Reality

   In university I was an English major.  We were taught to take note of “irony,” especially in plays by Shakespeare.  Many times the audience is aware of something that the actors in their roles do not know.  This adds a special kind of humour to the words that are spoken and actions that are done out of clear ignorance.

   In life, we are like more like the actors in a theatrical production than the audience.  We are not all knowing.  The things we do and the judgments we make are based on appearance, while the reality is often quite different.

   For example, someone who knows just a little bit about me would perhaps be shocked that I have and wear a fur coat on cold winter days.  How could an advocate of simple living be so extravagant?  What that person may not know is that I have been wearing that same coat for 20 years; it was given as a reward for my labours at my parents’ mink farm to that point. 

   Some patrons of the food bank where my husband works may appear, on the surface, not to be needy.  This can cause potential donors to grumble and feel that the system is being abused.  But as my husband often says, “Nobody wakes up in the morning and proudly says to himself, ‘I’m going to the food bank today.’”  A patron who drives a nice car pulls into the parking lot to get food.  She seems well off and well dressed.  However, she confides in a food bank employee that she never thought she would come to get food assistance.  Her professional husband left her, and she has no access to bank accounts or cash.  She cannot eat her car or her fine clothes, so in an emergency she comes for help.  Another patron has a dog; one might say he would save money if he had to feed only himself.  Yet having a canine companion makes living alone bearable for this man.  One more patron receives a lay-off notice and admits that he has been living the “Canadian lifestyle”—living from paycheque to paycheque.  In the three weeks it takes for his employment insurance payments to begin, he truly is destitute.

   Since I have been on the receiving end of judgments based on ignorance, I’m trying to be more careful not to draw negative conclusions about others.  God knows the whole story, and I can leave it to Him.

Bumblebees

This summer my husband and I have been learning more about bumblebees.  A nest underneath our front step means that when we sit there, we can observe their noiseless take offs.  We can also watch their deft landings, which are accompanied by a glimpse of the load of yellow pollen on hind legs.

   We cannot actually see the nest, but judging by the amount of activity during the day time, it is a full-size colony of at least 50 bees.[1]  Our front garden, adjacent to our front step, contains a few vegetable plants, but the plant nearest the step is producing the most beans.  We wonder if we should thank our fuzzy boarders for that.  Although bumblebees collect nectar and pollen and thus contribute to pollination of crops, they make only enough honey to feed their young.  Unlike honeybees, bumblebee hives do not survive the winter but start over again each spring with a queen that has hibernated on her own.

   Taking the time to closely observe the little creatures of our world can help us grow in appreciation for their Designer.  Basil the Great (330-379), who was a church bishop in Caesarea is quoted as having said, "If you speak of a fly, a gnat, or a bee, your conversation will be a sort of demonstration of His power whose hand formed them; for the wisdom of the workman is commonly perceived in that which is of little size." 

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[1] According to www.kentbee.com, it is rare for a colony to grow beyond 70 individuals

My Children Love Spinach...and Kale, Swiss Chard, Collard Greens, etc

This recipe is a simple and terrific way to serve any kind of greens.  It has a few variations, which are be listed at the bottom.  It is originally from the More With Less Cookbook, compiled by Doris Janzen Longacre, where it is called “Spinach Loaf.”

Preheat Oven to 350˚ F.

Cook briefly and drain well:

            2 cups frozen chopped spinach

            OR

            8 cups of fresh greens (spinach, kale, collard greens, swiss chard, or combination)

Make a white sauce in sauce pan over medium heat:

            2 Tbsp margarine (melt by itself first)

            3 Tbsp flour (add slowly along with salt, using a wire whisk)

            ½ tsp. salt

            1 cup milk (Add when margarine and flour is bubbly; keep stirring until thickened)

Combine:

            Cooked greens

            White sauce

            2 eggs, slightly beaten

Pour into buttered casserole and bake 35 minutes or until set.

Variation 1:  Saute one onion in the margarine before adding the flour, salt and milk.

Variation 2: Add grated cheese to the white sauce.

Variation 3:  Stir in a can of drained salmon or tuna, flaked with a fork before placing in the oven.

Family Night Ideas

Several years ago my husband and I began the weekly practice of having “family night” with our children every Saturday after dinner.  Although we already eat supper together every night, we wanted to add something more intentional to bind us together once a week.  It started out with the adults planning each activity, but now all five of us take turns being “in charge.”  If you’re looking for a new family routine that doesn’t have to get boring, why not consider some of these ideas:

1)      Go for a walk around your neighbourhood.  If you want to give a focus to the walk, it could be looking for beautiful plants or little insects, picking up litter, praying silently for neighbours as you pass their homes, or tracking the number and types of dogs that are out and about.  Consider bringing a snack along to share part-way through the walk.

2)      Play a board game together.  Some of our favourites are Carcasonne, the Settlers of Catan (this one has many different variations), Artifact, Boggle and Anomia.

3)      Play tree tag at a park.  One person is “IT.”  If you are touching a tree, you cannot be tagged, but the idea is that players will be running among the trees whenever “IT” is not looking at them.

4)      One person makes a list of 8-10 general words, such as “bear,” “funny,” or “music.” After the person reads one of the words, each person has to get an object from somewhere in the house that is associated with that word.  When everyone has returned, all the items are set down.  The group votes to say which item best represents the word.  For example, “bear” might bring things as diverse as a jar of Kraft Peanut butter, a teddy bear, and the storybook of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.”

5)      Set out plain note cards or drawing paper.  Each family member writes a card or draws a picture for someone they know that needs cheering up.  Either mail or deliver these promptly.

6)      Cooperative story writing.  Each person begins with a blank piece of paper and writes a sentence that could start a story.  As the papers are passed, a new writer adds to the story.  At the end, read the stories and laugh together at how zany they become.  With younger children, you could do progressive drawings instead.

7)      Family book share.  Give some advanced notice of this activity so that each family member can tell a little bit about the book he or she is currently reading and read aloud a small portion of it.

8)      Cycling.  There are many creative things you can do in this category in addition to taking a trail or biking to an ice cream store, such as having a coasting race down a hill (how far can you go without pedaling) or a slow race on level ground (who can go slowest without losing their balance).

9)      Family Feud on the Internet.  Gather around a computer screen and work together to come up with the most popular answers to the survey questions.

10)  Act out a skit or read the parts of a play as “reader’s theatre.”  Old school readers may be a good source for plays.

11)  Invite some neighbours to join you for “make your own” ice cream sundaes.

12)  Stick races.  Go to a river, stream or city storm waterway with flowing water.  Each person finds a stick to drop into the water at the same time.  Walk along as the current moves the sticks downstream to see whose stick goes fastest.

13)  Creative building.  Gather one set of identical items for each family member.  For example, a black LEGO brick, a piece of string, an empty yogurt bucket, a spoon, a Popsicle stick, and a paperclip.  The people separate and put the items together in their own creative “scene.”  After everyone is finished, take a tour of the scenes and receive an explanation of what each scene is depicting.

14)  Make a 500 piece puzzle together while listening to some favourite music.  For younger children, a few smaller puzzles to do together may be better.

Things We Leave Behind

One of my favourite singers, Michael Card, sang the following in 1994:

            We can’t imagine the freedom we find

From the things we leave behind.

   I don’t want to take his words out of context, so I should say that he was singing about Simon Peter, who left behind his family fishing business and about Matthew, who left behind a lucrative job as a tax collector, both in order to follow Jesus.  I’m starting to understand by personal experience how this can apply to me.

   Almost ten years ago my husband and I left something big behind, a family business where cut flowers were grown, a big swimming pool, a four-bedroom house my husband had lived in all his life, and our network of familiarity.  It was something we had to do in order to follow Jesus’ particular call on our lives.  At the time it was very clear that we had to “change direction,” but many of the details came into focus only as we walked that road of obedience.  The “freedom” we found and are still finding is paradoxical.  I’m sure that what we did made no sense to outside observers, but it was the right move for us.

   Fast forward to the start of a new school year.  After five years of being an enrichment teacher (first as a volunteer and then paid), I gave up this position.  I will continue to teach my Junior Kindergarten class two days per week.  When I felt led to resign from this job, it was totally counter-intuitive.  Our expenses are the same or more, so why would I voluntarily reduce my salary?  This position, though small, was my passion.  I was convicted that leaving it behind was an act of obedience to God for this season.  Some new opportunities are coming into view—a service trip to Dominican Republic in January, part-time work as a copy editor that I can do from home, and the opportunity to join a group that is visiting inmates at a women’s prison.

   When God calls us to leave things behind it can be scary because we easily place our security in the things we know.  However, the freedom and adventure of following the unexpected ways he leads us is incomparable...

   

Camping

   I imagine that former refugees would not understand why on earth people would choose to go camping.  They probably remember living in tents as a fearful time forced upon them, and I can understand their point of view.

   When I go camping, however, I find it therapeutic. Here are some of the reasons:

• When I go camping I realize that I don’t need half of the things I have in my house.  I am forced to live more simply.  Preparing food, going for hikes, playing games, and enjoying fresh air without a strict schedule is good for me.
• Camping shows me how to be resourceful, with my husband’s help.  Since we do not own a plethora of camping gadgets, we try to manage as best we can with what we have.  On a recent trip, we took four lawn chairs for five people; I didn’t mind at all sitting on a box when they were all in use.
• Camping places me outdoors.  Too often I tend to spend my days walled into buildings, even when I could theoretically take a task outside and do it there.  In the summer, I ought to spend more time in the creation and notice all of the God-made things that are found there.  Camping reminds me that in many warm climates houses are small because they are basically meant for sleeping in at night.  The rest of the time is spent outside.  I wonder how much we are missing by living in buildings as our default mode.
• Similar to the Israelites of old, camping can be a spiritual journey of sorts.  The annual “Feast of Booths” was basically a week-long camping trip to commemorate wilderness wanderings and celebrate how far the Lord had led them in their settled existence.  Camping can be an enriching time with more solitude and time to listen to God’s voice.

 Please leave a comment and share what you like best about camping.