When I heard about the latest mom on strike in protest of her lazy kids, I thought, "Here we go again."
Yet another tired, over-worked, under-appreciated mother who is trying to teach her kids a lesson. You see, like so many of us, Jessica Stilwell was tired of picking up after her daughters. Dirty dishes, smelly laundry, toys, books, and every other mess that come with having kids. When she halted all housework, her kids finally noticed something was up -- after several days. She wrote about the "walk-out" on her blog Striking Mom and her children's reactions were priceless.
Like most kids, they didn't bother with their assigned chores because if they didn't do it, mom would take care of it, of course. Well, Stilwell, a social worker, was fed up with dealing with messes that weren't hers. She continued to cook and make their lunches, but if they didn't clean out their lunch packs, they got the meal in a plastic bag the next day.
When one of the girls sat down for dinner and saw a bowl full of soggy cereal in her spot (remnants of her breakfast), she knew something was up. She whined, "'EWWWWW, what is THAT??' As she pushed the bowl towards me, I simply said, 'Why that looks like your breakfast my love' and I walked away,'" Stilwell wrote. The house got messier, dishes piled up, but still her children didn't lift a finger until day six. Apparently the girls were so disgusted, they couldn't take it anymore. Her kids weren't the only ones suffering through the nastiness. I am sure Stilwell and her husband were at their limit too. 
Her struggle is one many -- if not most -- parents can relate to. Kids hate chores. Kids will do anything they can to get out of chores. And -- as the Stilwell dilemma demonstrates -- they will live in filth instead of wash a dish. Sadly, I don't think that a strike is really going to change that. I applaud her for trying though. Parents have employed everything from bribery to threats to get their child to take out the trash.
I would bet her girls will stick to their to-do list for a month or so, but soon they will probably lapse back into their old, lazy ways. And what will mom do? Start picking up after them again. It's inevitable. Kids just don't get it until they have kids of their own. So take stock in the fact that they will one day be just as annoyed and frustrated as you.
Would you ever strike? How do you get your kids to do their chores?
Images via Striking Mom
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Comments 15
I never had chores growing up. Mom would just ask me to do something and I would. No assigned chores though.
I tried that once. I have 4 boys and one girl. 2 of the boys are toddlers, so it was mainly for the older 3. 2 teenage boys and a 9 yr old girl don't care if Mom goes on strike. Although, the 17 yo boys did wash some dishes, but mainly for the opportunity to use them! They also cooked their own food and did their own laundry a couple times. lol. At least I know they know how. I guess I can do it all ofr them now. I know that everything I've tried to teach them has been learned. They know how to cook for themselves, clean for themselves and could support themselves after hs. I think I learned the most from the experiment.
So when they start to pout, I tell them "okay, I'm running the vacuum in 10 minutes. Whatever is on the floor, goes in the trash!" Or "its time for y'all to scrub the bathroom. For every minute you play, whine, or fight in there, I will give you 2 minutes of yard work"
Those thing work in my house! LoL
There are certain things I always end up throwing away, like playing cards. I hate them, and the kids always miss a lot of them, so away they go! But other than that, the kids are really good at helping :)
Having children does not mean you suddenly become a house slave.
Toddlers are fully capable of cleaning up their toys every time they are finished playing. They can put dirty laundry away and put their dirty dishes in the sink.
A child over 4 is fully capable of loading the dishwasher (no knives), emptying the dishwasher (no knives), cleaning their own rooms, putting their shoes neatly in the closet and hanging their own coats.
Pitching a light weight step makes it even easier.
A child tall enough to reach into the washing machine is fully capable of doing their own laundry.
A good mom doesnt do everything for their child, they teach their child to do for themselves. Who wants to send a child off to college with no clue how to cook, clean or do laundry?
I had complimented Rhonda on another article, what went wrong there?? I kid, I kid.
I've tried the big trash bag thing and it worked, you put all the stuff that does not get picked up and it gets "lost" in the bag. Also, I once asked her to throw her puppie's poop in the toilet (using a specially purchased brush and bin), she didn't, then again, so I said he dog is going into the bag, still didn't, so I put a slice of bologna in the bag put the pup in there, being careful to keep it open and she just ran to clean up the mess!!! The big trash bag works!!!