Day 81: I wanna be like you

Proof that once upon a time (4.5 years ago) she did like to sweep. By the way, I sure miss that kitchen floor. That was the first DIY project we did together on our first fixer upper.

Big Girl has certain jobs she has to complete each week to earn her allowance and lately she has been dragging her feet.

The other night when she started her now familiar chorus of "I don't want to sweep the floor because I didn't make the mess!" I asked her (semi jokingly) if she'd rather trade places with me.

She perked up. "What's your job?"

"Laundry, dusting and vacuuming, dishes, shopping for groceries, cooking meals, cleaning up after meals, packing lunches--"

"I want to do your job!"

"Really? Okay, here's a container for you to put away your lunch for tomorrow."

I have been selling the girl short. Granted, she only packed her lunch and put away some dishes and leftovers but she did it with a willing attitude. Even when I ran out of things for her to do she asked "what else can I do to be Mom?" and went to bed begging to make breakfast in the morning.

Lesson one: kids are ready for chores way beyond what we think they can do sometimes.

Lesson two: don't volunteer to swap jobs with a 5 year old at 7:30 p.m. unless you are prepared to supervise a long night of activity. I think we would have been wallpapering the attic soon with all her vitality toward household chores.

Unfortunately the novelty quickly wore off. Last night she said "I think I want to go back to sweeping the floor."

Probably a good choice, but now I know she's able and (usually) willing to do more than I give her credit for. Time to start home ec!