When Asher arrived was the perfect time to pivot Aaron and Jada to a mindset of needing to do their share of chores. At 9 and 7, and with a little brother taking up more of their parents' energy, they understood they would need to help in the kitchen and with cleaning the house, and took to it with gusto. (Now of course they consider it a, well, chore, to do chores.)Earlier this month I decided it was time for Asher to earn his keep. He is a little emperor, after all, and all play and no work is not good for the boy. So I told him when we came into the kitchen that his job was twofold. First, the mats in front of the sink, oven, and fridge, which one of his big sibs had hung on the back of a chair to sweep the floor the night before, needed to put back down on the floor. Second, placemats were needed where the three kids sat. Asher took to his new responsibility with great enthusiasm, even proudly telling his mother that he had a chore now, which made me quite happy.
Ah, but I should've known that with Asher no victory can be savored for long. Within a week, he was starting to push back, the enthusiasm replaced with the same reluctance I see in my older kids. Ah, but that was just the set-up for where he was really going. For in order to stoke enough excitement, I suggested that we do the chore together, me handing him the mats and him putting them down, or me taking the table and him taking the floor. That led to him barking out orders for what to do and how to do it. I guess why do the chore when you can promote yourself to management. What a piece of work this boy is. He has some potential!
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