About...

I'm the other mother - or Momma Deb. Our family is pretty much like every other family in suburbia. The girls go to school, one mom is on the PTA boards of elementary and middle school. The other mom goes to work, paints, writes, and tries to just have a good time raising kids with her partner. This is my third attempt at blogging...

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Chores and Motivations

The girls have two working parents this year. Until last year it was just me bringing home the bacon. But then Kandy decided she needed to work and bring in a little extra spending money. So she took a job as a "Crossing Guard" at a local elementary school. It just so happens that it isn't the same schools where the girls attend, but another one on the other side of the main drag not far from here. It's about half a mile from here.

She absolutely loves her job. She gets paid for 6 hours of works and works only 4 hours. She explained that that was the way they do it, because she ends up not working a full 3rd hour in the morning and the afternoon. It's a good job for her because she can still go over to the girls' schools (Katie is in middle school and Megs is still in elementary), if need be, and volunteer in classes during core school hours.

Then, she took another part-time job for the school district as Lunch Lady at yet another elementary school. So now she zips over to that school during the lunch hour and serves those yummy meals to the rugrats over there. She still volunteers in classes, but not so much now. And, she usually misses field trips, unless she takes a day off.

At home, the house has been suffering. It - the mess - has been kinda piling up
on us. I like a neat and tidy house. Cat puke and mold are not acceptable. Okay, there's no mold, but occasionally the cat hawks up a bad one. Not to mention the dust and fur mullets that scatter across the floors. So today we had a little pow-wow - Kandy and I, that is. The girls have really not been given consistent responsibilities outside of their rooms and the bathroom. But, they're old enough to take on a lot more responsibility.

Heh-heh.

And today they're going to learn what that will be. Once we figure that out, and how to manage it, I mean. Mostly I don't want to set down an edict with no motivation for them to complete their tasks. That's a good recipe for a nagging mom. I hate nagging. Although, if underlying all of this is an edict - this is something they will need to do whether there is allowance or privileges in the mix, or not.

Motivation. Hmmmm....

Still thinking about that one.

In the meantime, here's a picture of Meg taking out the trash. The sheer look of desperation and disgust is priceless.