NanaNews

I've been watching talk shows and home programs and I am so happy to see that people are beginning to understand that the shuffling around the fact that all of us need to belong to a family and the best way for your kids to know that they are part of that family is to expect them to help at home--no money involved.

When I was seven and my mom got sick -- which I didn't know about -- U had chores. Not a lot but things that had to be done every day to make the family work like a clock.

Here's what I mean----

     Things were changing again. This time Phil was pressing his own shirts. Mom would be gone for a couple of days, as I’ve said. Then she’d be home. Sleeping a lot. Phil and I would fix dinner and wash the dishes. Then this old woman came to the house and would clean and get us kids ready for school. I remember that she thought that it was terrible that I couldn’t comb my hair and put it in braids. It was either learn how to braid my hair or go to school looking like a banshee. It took me a while, but I learned how to comb and braid my hair. No more banshee for me!! I was seven when we got the house keeper. She would go home after we got back from school. The evening meal was cooked for when dad got home. It was our after school job to wash the dishes—pots and pans included. Dad divided the chores. My job was to wash the plates and silverware and glasses. Dry them and put them away. Because most of the pots were cast iron those day, Phil’s job was to wash them and put them away.

     I couldn’t touch the faucets while standing on the ground, so I got a chair, put the back of the chair to the counter and washed dishes. I had to stand on the counter to put the plates and glasses in the cabinets. When we bought this house, my kids found me standing on the counter cleaning the cabinets and they had a fit. So, I had to promise that I would use a ladder from then on.

I felt needed and part of a family because I could help when I was needed. Kids just feel better when they can help and when someone cares enough to tell them to behave themselves and mean it!