Child Labour

Along with Nigella Lawson, I too am a big believer in child labour. I think that by the age of 13 all children should know how to run a household excluding budgeting and bill paying. But I dropped the ball.

I dropped the ball big time and it broke my toe!

Some time between his first birthday and now, my first born became a teenager and my second born is on the eve of his 13th birthday and I totally forgot.

The moment I realised that it had happened was just before baby Louie was born. I asked the eldest to make his bed and put his clothes away, through a smirk he says "But that's your job."

What very quickly became 'my job' was the responsibility of what I like to call 'Husband training'

Husband training - the training required for young men to intimately know the ins and outs of clothes washing, folding, ironing, cleaning, cooking and general tidying.

I believe this is a mother's / father's job. I don't want to send my children into the world without knowing how to deal with basic skills inside a home.

It is very imporant to teach children of the current generation to look after themselves and understand that being in a family is a team in which everyone helps out. Life is different for men now and it is expected that they know how to clean a toilet too. The male and female stereotypes no longer exist.

So have spent the morning designing task lists and chore plans like we had 5+ years ago. They did more then than now!

Have also worked on a $10 earning scheme whereby they start with $10 on Friday night and if jobs don't get completed or their is fighting or issues they lose money. On Monday morning the receive the balance of their $10. Rather than reward good behaviours, the expectations are set and they loose if they don't meet these expectations.

Life isn't about rewarding good behaviour all the time. As my ex husband says "these freaking kids now days want to be thanked for turning up to work on time"

So the whip is out. Figuratively not physically (like the 60mins piece last night) and my husband training is well underway!