I raised my kids with “chore charts” so it’s no surprise that my oldest daughter’s oldest daughter is carrying on the tradition.
She’s five.
Nothing makes her happier than a timeline, a calendar or a chore chart.
Her daily duties include the “pick up toys” and “brush teeth” requirements one expects of a five-year-old.
She was so excited about her own chore chart that she made one for her three-year-old sister.
Item one is “wash ceiling fan.”
When asked how exactly a three-year-old washes a ceiling fan, the girls explained, “We put a laundry basket on the bed and stand on it so we can reach.”
And what do they clean with?
“We just dip a little toilet paper in some water.”
(I should probably mention these little girls are parented by their stay-at-home dad while their engineer mother goes to work.)
Apparently they work as a team, which is encouraging.
They recently employed teamwork to pull a loose tooth.
“Dad tied the string to my tooth. I stood still and she just took off running with the string and it flew out,” explained the five-year-old as the three-year-old proudly displayed the string.
The girls’ notion about checklists and teamwork has inspired me to write my own checklist for 2021.
•Make chore charts for other people. – Let someone know you think they are capable of doing great things. Let someone else know they need to “knock it off.”
•Wash ceiling fans. – Look for the dirt in your own house before you worry about dirt in someone else’s. Clean out the nooks and crannies.
•Stand on laundry baskets. – Take a few risks. Maybe you will fall and break an arm. Maybe you will bounce on a soft, fluffy bed. Sometimes you have to reach for the ceiling to see what happens.
•Employ teamwork. – Be willing to run with the string. Be willing to stand still. Everybody has a job to do.
And finally …
•put these on your 2021 chore chart: Seek truth. Find common ground. Express gratitude.
… And don’t forget to pick up your toys and brush your teeth.