I posted recently about Andrew deciding Paul and Hannah could start earning money.  I was sad about it, because I thought it was taking away their innocence and polluting their minds with thoughts of money, consuming desires for coveted items, and introducing them to the work-for-a-living world way too soon.

Well, Paul, Hannah and I are all learning through this process, and I’ve discovered more positives than I thought there would be.  It also helps that Paul’s all-consuming desire for the special car has mitigated.  He is no longer asking for work all day long, and talking about having enough money to buy it by evening time, or tomorrow.  That makes it easier for my mommy-heart.  Also, Andrew looked around online and decided to go ahead an purchase this car while it was in Wal-Mart (secretively, of course) just in case it was no longer there by the time Paul’s money jar had enough coins to buy it.

One of the paying chores I figured out was for Paul and Hannah to clear the table and load the dishwasher.  I usually only have them do it after 2 meals each day, and I give them coins right after the task.  They are still young enough that immediate rewards are in order.  At first, I was having them bring the dishes to the dishwasher and put them in.  It was soon apparent that juices were dripped on the floor all the way from the table to the dishwasher.  I figured out to give them each a square dishpan.  Now, they load it with dishes and carry them to the dishwasher, and then load them.  That way all the drips are close to the dishwasher and easier to wipe up.

Paul generally gets to load all the leftovers into his dishpan and put them in the refrigerator.  (Of course, I do the heavy stuff or the big glass containers.)  He is perfectly capable of putting away the butter tub, the ketchup bottle, little jars of jam, a bag of lettuce, etc.

Hannah usually gets to load all the utensils in her dishpan and put them in the “gray basket” in the dishwasher.  She also loads other dishes too, but the utensils are the easiest for her.

Paul does excellently well getting the plates and putting them in the right places in the dishwasher.  I’m really impressed with his abilities.  For odd containers and cups, I have to point out where they go, or I simply tell them, “the top drawer” or “the bottom drawer” and they put them in there in the right drawer.  After they’re all finished, then I put them around in the best place for that particular dish.

They are pretty good at all this.  Sometimes there’s a squabble when one wants to put something in the bottom while the other is putting something in the top, but hopefully they’ll eventually be able to take turns without quibbling.

Last evening, on their own accord, they snapped beans for me without me telling them to.  They stood their faithfully and thoroughly enjoying it for quite a while, until I was all done.  (Yes, I gave them some coins, even though we hadn’t “bargained” on it ahead of time.)

Today, after lunch, they froze the beans for me.  Let me tell you, it crossed my mind several times to just do it myself and be done in a fraction of the time.  However, I girded up my loins and let them do it.  They loved it so much and had a grand ol’ time.  They stir in the water, make a bean “squeak”, bend the limber, blanched beans and talk about how they bend, Hannah takes some beans apart to get the “bean” out, and there is nothing fast or hurried or efficient about the process at all.  And, water gets everywhere!

I set them up with the drainers, and I went and worked at re-organizing some bedroom closets for a while.  When I came back, Paul had all his beans in the drainer, and Hannah was still working on her sink of beans.  I had Paul start boxing up his beans while Hannah finished getting hers out of the sink.  Then she boxed up her beans.  After that was all done, I changed Hannah’s soaking wet clothes and wiped up the wet floor.

I wrote on some brown tape and tore it off and Paul put the tape (labels) on the boxes.  He insisted on carrying some of the freezer boxes down to the freezer and putting them in  himself.

Now, for the lessons.

1.  All these work opportunities are more lessons in following verbal instructions for Paul and Hannah.  Yes, they do that pretty good anyway, but now this is more complicated.  “No, don’t touch that,” is one simple command.  “Gather up all the utensils, put them in your pink dishpan, and put them in the gray basket in the dishwasher,” is a multi-step, complex verbal instruction.  It requires them to pay attention and listen, to do each step and remember the next one (you’d be surprised how hard that can be for a 2 and 3 year-old), and to stick to the task until it’s finished.

2.  I’ve learned that money isn’t the biggest thing on their minds.  Usually, when they’re finished a chore, particularly the dishes one, all they’re interested in is running off to play.  I have to remind them to come get their coins and put them in their money jars.  That eases my mind.  They have not transitioned into folks who think they need to be paid for every little thing, even for breathing.

3.  Almost all the time when Paul has finished a task, he asks, (very cheerfully) “What else do you want me to do?”.  If it’s a multi-stage task, I give him the next set of instructions.  Even at the end of lots of instructions and tasks, he is always asking what else he can do.  And that’s at the end of paid tasks as well as un-paid regular chores.  Hannah sometimes asks the same thing, but not as consistently as Paul does.

4.  Now this one has been one of my long-term goals with Paul and Hannah.  That goal being that work is the usual, playing is a treat.  That way, playing will be a happy fun time, not a time to fight and bicker and whine.  These days, if I manage things right, they have a proper balance between working and playing and play time is a treat.  And they’ll ask to go play, or say they want to go play (instead of doing their chore).  I remind them they can as soon as the task is finished.  And, then they are much happier and play much nicer than when I don’t structure in work and they have free play time almost all day.

5.  I’m learning and figuring out this phase of parenting.  It takes a mountain of patience to teach them how to work and let them do the work.  I nearly always have them “make the bread” when I am using the bread machine.  They dump in all the ingredients, carry the bucket over and put it in the bread machine, and then push the buttons as I tell them to.  (We normally use it a couple times a week.)  Letting them clear the table and load the dishwasher takes 5 times longer than if I did it myself, and I have to be right there supervising.  Yes, I can be tidying up around the kitchen, etc., but I have to be available to give verbal instructions as needed.

Hopefully all this will start to instill in them a good work ethic and life with them as teenagers won’t be a nightmare with lazy sloths.  (Other parents out there, feel free to give me some tips in this area–not the teenagers part yet, but instilling a good work ethic when the kids are 2 & 3 years old.)

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