“Everyday of your life is a another lesson. If you learn the lesson well and apply it; whether positive or negative, you determine what happens in your tomorrow.”
~David Kofi Awusi
Our van is beautiful again, not because of a drive-thru car wash but thanks to our kiddos!
What a valuable lesson it is for kids to grow up knowing they can do the work themselves, and it really just takes a little time. When there is extra money coming in, the luxury of going through a carwash or a drive-thru for food, can be fun, convenient and less work. Giving these opportunities to realize they can do things for themselves, is going to help them financially in the long run, plus teach valuable skills!
In college there were kids who had never done their own laundry or cooked their own food. Simple life skills weren’t taught, or expected of them before leaving the house. That memory alone has shaped the way we are raising our kids. They help us with laundry, folding clothes, baking, cooking dinner, setting the table, and cleaning up before doing something fun like watching a movie. Helping feed and take the dog out, occasional outdoor work and washing the vehicles are also thrown in. As they get older, we’ll start teaching them how to use the lawn mower as well. And I suppose in 4 short years, we’ll also be teaching our oldest to care for and drive a car (no!!!)!
Today’s fun was washing the van! It was such a nice day outside, and they’ve helped me wash cars before so this was not new. It was not hard at all to get them out there to help me, as we try to instill some life lessons in what we are doing. “I could do this by myself, but it would take much longer, and wouldn’t be as fun. So if we all work together, this won’t take very long!”
Sometimes they fight over who gets to spray the van down, so we have them take turns. One will spray it down while the other two wash, then they take turns rinsing. They work pretty well together, outside of the occasional, “Hey, you got me wet!”, which is the main reason we only wash on warm days.
Life lessons are important to learn, but the more fun you can make them at an early age, the less trouble you will have getting them to help you as they grow up. They will simply be used to it!
What life lessons do you add into your regular household chores or projects?
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