Encouraging Independence

  Kevin and I could never keep our household running without much help from our kidlets.  They do so  much -- most of the laundry, sweeping, vacuuming, changing sheets, caring for chickens and cats, etc.

  Every family has to figure out how to manage the whole "chore" thing. We started giving Naomi chores (like setting the table) when she was about 3 years old. She may have helped pick up toys before that -- I can't remember but it seems likely.

 As our other children grew, we gave the young ones chores and trained the older ones to do new chores.

  Mostly it works very well, and I am truly grateful for our children's help.  This is especially true right now, when pregnancy aches and pains are starting to make me much less mobile.  I'm actually having rather a hard time. Yesterday I had lots of contractions and weird pressure.  This is normal for me at this stage in the pregnancy, but it is still unnerving.  The baby will be 28 weeks along on Monday, and we need at least another 10 weeks for her in the womb.

  One thing on my mind is that it is the little things that can wear me out. Yes, the kids do a lot, but I find myself dashing around doing a little of this, and a little of that, all day every day unless I specifically work to rest.  An example is shown in the picture above.  Miriam realized we needed toilet paper and got some out of the pantry to put in the appropriate bathroom, but then she had trouble getting the plastic broken so she could get at the TP inside.  Normally, I would get up, find a pair of scissors, and open it for her.  This time, I told her to find a pair of scissors and open it herself.

  When I'm really not feeling well, I realize how many times the kids ask me to something they could easily do themselves.  This is more true of the "middle" kids.  Naomi and Lydia are independent and usually just take care of a problem. But the middles are more likely to depend on me or their sibs.  Sometimes they NEED help, like getting a stubborn jar of peanut butter open, but even then they can ask a big sib instead of me.

  I hope I don't sound lazy at all.  I'm sure we all have our lazy moments, but I'm way more likely to err on the side of doing too much than too little.  I hate being weak, honestly. I hate not being able to do things that our kids want me to do, but every life has seasons, and this is one of my seasons when I need to take it super easily.

  So, I am thankful for the hard work of our kids, and am working to encourage even more independence.