Dalton has been trying to earn money to buy a Play Station game. This means that he has been the cutest little helper all week long. This morning I opened the dishwasher and started to put away the dishes only to be stopped by Dalton saying he wanted to do it. After finishing any chore his typical response is, "how much money do I get?" A couple of days ago I had to run to a neighbors house and I left the kids home with Dalton in charge. When I called them to make sure they were ok, Dalton informed me that they were mopping the floor. Holly was sweeping while Dalton was getting the mopping bucket and soap ready. When I got home, Dalton was in the midst of mopping the floor and they had posted little notes near each door telling me how to get into the house without stepping on their clean floor. It was pretty darn cute.
As the kids become older and able to do more jobs, I find that I have to teach them how I want it done but then lower my expectations for the finished product. They are trying and excited to help out and even though things are not done quite the way I would have done them I am pleased that they are learning. Back when I was "younger" the kids would make their beds and then I would go around and remake all the beds so they were to my standard. I quickly had to stop when I realized that the kids didn't want to make their beds anymore because they figured that I would just redo it later. So, I am learning to be pleased with their efforts and to spend more time teaching them how I want things to be done. I would like to say that the kids are learning to take pride in a clean house but actually I think they are driven by money and if they didn't have something to be saving for they wouldn't care less about the cleanliness of the house.
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