Some people look at chores as a bad thing. When in reality they are not all that bad. After reading, The Case Against Chores, by Jane Smiley, I must say that I disagree with her perception of chores. Ms. Smiley states that the reason for chores is for “developing good work habits or, in the absence of good work habits, at least habits of working” (Smiley, 2009, p. 274). However, chores teach us things such as responsibility and how to go above and beyond what might be asked of us. As a child I did a lot of chores and had to grow up a little faster than some children, but I would not change that for the world. It molded me into the adult that I am today. Therefore, chores, to a certain extent, are a great way to start you on the path in preparing you for adulthood. What exactly is the purpose of chores? The purpose of chores is to help teach us responsibility, how to contribute, and how to go above and beyond what is asked of us. For example, one of my daughter’s chores is to keep her room cleaned up; and take care of her things. I know that if she can keep her room clean and take care of her things, then she will be more responsible with more expensive things later on down the road. Another one of her chores is to help with picking up after herself. You might say this is silly. Is this really even a chore? Yes! This will help teach her to contribute. Every little bit helps, especially in the fast paced world that we live in today. I am a working mom/wife that is also in school. I do not have time to pick up after everyone like I used to; when I did not have any children and was not going to school. So everyone contributing helps a great deal. Ms. Smiley states that, “good work is not the work we assign chi... ... middle of paper ... ...ildren. Meanwhile, the house was clean, but my girls were thriving for my attention and not happy. I just had to get the house clean and get every dish put away before I could play with them. I did not have my priorities straight. On the other hand, my husband can just let the sink pile up and a let a load of laundry sit there for days and it does not bother him. In conclusion, chores do teach us things such as responsibility and how to contribute. My daughter will still have her daily chores and as she gets older they will probably increase. This will prepare her as she gets closer to becoming an adult and possibly a wife and mother. However, as parents we must be careful to not let it get out of hand and remember that they are still children. They do need to contribute just like everyone else, but they also need to be children for as long as they can be.
We have tried explaining to our parents, nicely, about our feelings toward these chores. Some of us have even tried begging our parents to not give as many chores as usual so that we have time to do homework or go out with our friends. But it is obvious that our actions have been ignored and this is why we have to write this Declaration of Independence.
Society has portrayed men in general to be messy people for decades, upon decades. In movies like “Dude, Where’s My Car?”, with Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott, and “You, Me and Dupree” with Owen Wilson, men have been portrayed to be bad roommates.
tasks, it makes her feel as if she is a burden to her husband and
It was a right-of passage that I, and everyone else I knew, had to endure. I do not know one person who likes doing chores. My parents not only had me do them because they had to get done, but to teach me how to be self- sufficient. No self-respecting adult should ever have to ask anyone how to wash dishes, clean a bathroom or do their laundry. These were the types of chores I did on a weekly basis. The statement that Enrenreich makes is probably one of the rudest things I have ever read, “Upper-middle-class children raised in the servant economy…are bound to grow up as domestically incompetent as their parents and no less dependent on people to clean up after them”(Enrenreich). I cannot even remember the number of times I have washed dishes, mopped/vacuumed floors, taken out the trash or even shoveled snow. As I said before, I am guilty of being an upper-middle-class child. Though people have cleaned my house, I too have done that. So I completely appreciate it when others do the cleaning, but I am speaking for myself and not all children that grew up in an upper-middle-class household. Reading Enrenreich’s article did cause me to reflect on how I acted around the cleaning people that worked in our house. Her anecdotes brought back memories of some of the things I had done. Though, I was young and did not fully understand that what I was doing wrong. However, as I continued to read the article I felt compelled to check my
Some of the capabilities that are seen typical and expected by age three or four growing up, are unheard of now. We had to help with the family business, which meant: wake up early, sweep, mop, help wash dishes, and assist with cooking and washing clothes. We were taught a very young age to be in depended, on a sense of learning how to care and clean for ourselves.
Have you ever wanted to just shred up your homework or throw it out the window and have no consequences? Kids are assigned daily homework from the time they start kindergarten at the ripe young age of five. Is it really necessary? Does it even help better learning or even higher test scores? The amount of homework we do wastes time, money, paper, and trees because it’s practically the exact same thing we did in class that day. Homework causes kid’s and teen’s frustration, tiredness, little time for other activities and possibly even a loss of interest in their education. It also keeps everyone up; it has kids and teens staying up until they finish it, the parents trying to help them and the teachers grading it. So, I think that homework is a waste and kids and teens should choose whether they want to do their homework for extra credit and practice or not.
She left clothes in the washer all day and night. She left her shoes right by the door so I tripped on them every day. She also never put her dishes away or threw her trash away. So three or four times a week we would get into some sort of argument over the fact that I have to clean up after her and that was not fun at all, especially since we were so close. There were days when all I wanted to do was come home from work and relax but I always found myself cleaning up after her, or just cleaning period. Martha De Lacey wrote an article saying how women spend almost a year and a half of their lives cleaning and I swear I did more than the average women did and my roommate probably spent half of that picking up socks around the house so she wouldn’t be added to the women who spend that much time cleaning. It was like living with a boy who left their junk all over the house and ate all your
It should also be noted that the argument made by feminist it not to place a monetary amount on the work of household chores but to make the work appreciated and
there? Well, that wouldn’t happen anymore if you got your own allowance. I believe that children should receive a weekly allowance for completing his or her list of chores, doing extra to help around the house, and good behavior. In my opinion, children should receive an allowance for doing chores for the purpose of building financial literacy, encouraging independent thinking, and reinforcing good habits.
In conclusion, the job of a parent is to teach their children how to be disciplined. This can take a long time and can be really frustrating, but it is really important. Parents are the ones that shape their child, and all the hard work will be reflected on them. It is important for the child to know how to act in a civilized way around society.
The first responsibility that I think is very important is being a good example for your kids. Parents are examples for their kids whether they like it or not. My boys watch and copy everything that I do, and even if I don’t think their listening they are listening. If they see me finishing school and working a good job that’s what they will expect to do themselves because that is all that they know. Children are like sponges. I want to show my kids how to be a good person by being a good person myself. As a parent I want my children to know that they can be anything they want to be, but at the same time I am controlling their physical and moral environment so that they can be good people. I want them to be in an environment where they can develop habits of honesty, generosity, and responsibility.
My responsibilities in my childhood were very simple and care free. My chores were to do my homework, wash the dishes, clean my room and vacuum the entire house. I was not responsible for anything or anyone. I was free to be a child and to have fun. I didn’t have to pay any bills and no one was depending on me. I had to make sure I made good grades and graduate high school. My responsibilities in adulthood have shifted to me being responsible for an entire household. I’m responsible for my two sons and
More and more women work outside and inside the home. The double demands shouldered by these women pose a threat to their physical health. Whether you are an overworked housewife or an exhausted working mother the chances are that you are always one step behind your schedule. No matter how hard women worked, they never ended up with clean homes. Housewives in these miserable circumstances often became hysterical cleaners. They wore their lives away in an endless round of scouring, scrubbing, and polishing. The increased strain in working women comes from the reality that they carry most of the child-rearing and household responsibilities. According to social trends (1996), women always or usually do the washing in 79 percent of cases and decide the menu 59 percent of the time. Picking up the children at school or doing grocery shopping are just a few of the many typical household-tasks a woman takes on every day.
Back when my parents were little, it was not uncommon for the wife to stay at home and tend to the housework. Being a housewife requires certain skills for cleaning a house. Three rooms in particular are the kids’ room, the bathroom and the kitchen, all require certain cleaning products, equipment, and processes to clean properly.
A good way to start is by having the child help with chores. For example, a parent can ask their child to pick up their plate and put it in the dishes. Children need to grow up in an environment where these tasks become ordinary, not only because they are told to do them but because they see them being done (NEA, 2002-2015). When the teacher tells them to clean up the used toys or crayons, they will remember the tasks at home and do them without any problem. This is the first step that can only be accomplished when the child has a good foundation that starts at home and continues elsewhere, such as school.