In our home, we believe that children are to be willing participants in keeping our home clean and safe for everyone to enjoy. It's not just on Mommy to keep the house clean, do the laundry, and cook the meals. Everyone has to do cheerfully do their part, as a team, to make our home a place that we all can enjoy.
There are many things that we don't want to do in life but if we just ignore them, we can cause harm to someone else or even inflict some pretty bad consequences on ourselves. I don't always want to wash dishes but if I ignored them long enough, the stench from decay as well as waste left by microscopic organisms that thrive in such conditions would make my family ill. Further, if I do my tasks with a dismal or complaining attitude, my children will find their work to be just as dismal and I will have a difficult time convincing them to do their tasks with joy.
When one of our children doesn't complete their task, there is a consequence. These consequences vary accordingly. This week, my seven year old missed three days of bringing the laundry down to the laundry room. Since we absolutely have to wash at least four loads of laundry daily to keep up with it, missing just one day can lead to a heaping pile of laundry. Since it was time to wash comforters, I didn't check up on his job, personally. One of his older siblings brought it to my attention when looking for a clean shirt to wear. Having kept up my washing, I traced the missing shirts back to my 7 year old not doing his part in bringing down the laundry. Of course this made more work for me and my other laundry person. So I decided to teach a lesson about how important it is for each person to do his or her share.
I thought it would be nice to take a trip to the laundromat to wash all of the clothes and since the laundromat comes with a price, my son had to pay a price as well. It was a tiresome morning washing, drying, and folding all 14 loads, and there was no mercy from the heat that came from the dryers that added to the already scorching weather we had here. I brought drinks, and we worked until the laundry was done - no breaks.
Sure, my sweet son was able to replenish his fluids and race around the laundromat on the laundry carts as he went from washer to dryer but it was definitely not a fun experience that he'll want to repeat. His take was, "I never want to do this again." My response, "Then it's important to do your job promptly so you won't make more work for the others on your team or yourself."
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