What Chores Have Taught Me and Why Today's Children Need Them

Many children in today's society will not learn how to wash a dish or use the laundry machines until they go to college or move out on their own. Mom usually does it all, sometimes with help from Dad or a housekeeper. As kids get older they may be given some chores to complete to help out and learn some responsibility. Many parents also choose to give their children an allowance to compensate them for their time and motivate them to complete all that is asked of them.

When I was a child, my mother taught me how to help her complete household tasks for different reasons. She would often tell my brother and I what needed to be done and we could choose which tasks to complete. We never looked at it as a chore, but rather a way to help out in the house. Of course there were times we didn't want to clean but my mother always made us help anyway.

I never got paid for completing tasks that were necessary for the functioning of the household in which I was an active part of. When I got older I asked my mom for an allowance and she promptly told me I was eating it and wearing it. That logic was enough for me to silently think my mother was much smarter than some of my friend's parents, although of course I never told her that.

By the time I was 12 years old I knew how to do just about everything in the house. I learned to make my first pot of sauce by age 10 and started expanding our family meal options by contributing my own non-traditional meals. I folded laundry even started to learn how to do things like paint or use a hammer. By the time I reached high school, I was completely self sufficient and then some. (Of course, I often waited until the last possible moment to actually wash the clothes, but at least I knew how).

After college I wasn't afraid to venture into the world on my own. I was confident and happy at the skills my mother taught me, and in turn passed them along to my husband who is now a top-notch dishwasher. My brother has grown to embrace these skills as well and has one of the cleanest apartments I've ever seen a single guy have. And yes, he can cook, too.

It's not only the sense of responsibility that matters when it comes to learning chores, either. Although my mother didn't go to college, she passed on a different kind of knowledge. By teaching me the things she knew so well she passed on pieces of herself that would otherwise be lost someday. Someday when I reminisce about the things my mother did when we were young, it will feel good to know I do those same exact things. They will be more than passive memories lost to my children. They will be alive and passed on from generation to generation, hopefully creating a sense of accomplishment and pride in my own children the way they were created in me.

If today's children lack this sense of community and participation within their own households, how will they expand it to the outside world and beyond? Responsibility is an important part of raising a well-rounded and reliable human being. Why not start right away?

Unfortunately many children in our current society are so used to everything being done for them I'm afraid they'll be lost in the real world. Then again, they'll probably just have someone else to do the work instead.