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When They Finally Start Cleaning Up the Poop

I was reading the blog about G-Force. I have to admit, I'm not a big movie person, and even less of a kids' movie fan. But one thing really struck me as I read this blog post - it only holds true for little kids. I don't really have a "little kid" anymore. Ro is still kind of little, he only weighs about 45 lbs, but he's almost 8-years-old. And Ri is nearly as tall as I am. But their height doesn't define their bigness for me, the degree to which they help care for the animals does.

This summer, we finally figured out that we can pay Ri to scoop the dog poop. Nobody likes scooping dog poop, but a ten-year-old will begrudgingly do it for cash.

Ro whines every time the dogs bark at the back door, but without fail he will go back there and let them out anyway. He also keeps a fairly close watch over their food dish, and will even refill it without being asked.

Life really does evolve as your children get older. I wouldn't say it gets easy, but it certainly gets to a point where they are ready to contribute to the work, rather than endlessly creating more of it for you. I can see now why farmers of old would have 10 kids, I would too if I had that many animals to take care of!

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Comment by Daddy Geek Boy on August 4, 2009 at 9:30am: I must say that you have some extraordinary kids. Growing up, my friend's pets almost perished cause nobody would take care of them.

Trust me, as soon as the Bean gets old enough to scoop cat litter, guess what he's going to be doing.

Comment by StitchyWench on August 4, 2009 at 9:51am: The key is to never give them allowance. We require them to do age appropriate chores and pay for play if they can and will take on one of our most hated chores.

Comment by RBridwell on August 5, 2009 at 10:52am: My 11 year old's enthusiasm for chores comes and goes. I've heard, "You only had children so you could have slaves" about 100 times....this week. We've had the "We're a family and need to work together" discussion, but he still doesn't get it. He's convinced his place in life is being cared for, cooked for, cleaned after, babied and anything he does he should get paid for.

We pay for some chores, others are just expected of him. My two little ones get "assignments", but nothing regular.

So, while the work IS getting done (albeit, half-assed) the noise of complaints and whining is almost unbearable.

Comment by StitchyWench on August 6, 2009 at 7:58am: I think my son threatens to be that way. My daughter really wants the money so there's no way in hell she will. It helps if they really like shopping but don't have the money to buy anything unless they happily scoop the poop. My son seems content to never buy anything.

When They Finally Start Cleaning Up the Poop

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