If household management were a profession, it would be a high-paying one. Keeping your house in good order while child-rearing and working full-time is no joke, after all.
When this fragile balancing act gets too much for you, however, it’s time to consider getting help. Look no further than your own house, because your children are the perfect people to set up for the job. If you’re having doubts, then consider these three reasons collaborating with them might be the answer to your problems:
Quality Time
Make a list of all the activities you do to manage your home. You have your grocery shopping, general cleaning, daily meal preparation and cooking, gardening, and so on. Instead of squeezing in your quality time with your children, why not do these activities with them as your means to bond?
Your children might not be fond of chores, but you can make it fun for them by doing it together. Help them build positive associations with these activities by rewarding them afterward or making it their safe space for difficult conversations. You’ll soon find that you’re getting things done faster while building a better relationship with your children.
Parenting on the go
A lot of life’s most important lessons aren’t taught at school but home. Some of these are life skills that they’ll need when they live in their own house. How well they’ll cope on their own is primarily determined by the things you teach them at home while they’re still young.
While you’re doing chores together, give them pointers about which clothes you should hand-wash and which ones are better left with professionals. Bring them along with you when you turn over these susceptible clothes to your trusted dry cleaners. Learning how to segregate clothes for these purposes is one of the simplest and most overlooked skills among young adults today.
Do the same when grocery shopping, feeding your pets, and gardening. Instead of making time to teach them just before they leave the nest, incorporate these lessons in their daily lives growing up. It’ll be much easier for both of you, and it’ll give them more time to practice what they learn.
Reducing Stress
There are days when you can’t do everything that needs to be done. A sudden meeting stretches your office hours well past dinnertime. That’s okay because you can trust your children to cook dinner the way you do. All the dirty laundry that needs washing? Your son knows how to segregate them and use the washing machine. How about the carpets that need airing to keep your allergies from flaring up? No worries, your daughter knows when you usually do them and hasn’t overlooked the task.
You can stress less, knowing that you have children capable of sharing the household chores with you. Above all, you can rest assured that when they have their own houses, they can manage them well.
Trust your children
Children are more capable than you think. If you keep them from doing certain chores because they might break things or make mistakes, you’re preventing them from learning. Worse, you’re negatively impacting their confidence. Letting them manage the house with you builds their self-esteem and helps them grow up to be responsible adults. Enjoy collaborating with them, and don’t forget to build fond memories as you go.
