How to train your kids

Every parent's dream is to have children that pick up after themselves, do chores around the house to help out, and are generally responsible. Well, my friends, if this is your dream too, do I have a secret to share with you. If you start them young enough, and keep your expectations high, they WILL do chores, clean up after them selves, and help around the house. Ands by start early, I mean at the ripe old age of ONE. Lucy is actually almost 2 now (22 months to be precise), and she recently started helping her brothers out with their chores. She'll actually unload the dishwasher for anyone who will let her (and you know they are always telling her when it's their chore). She does a pretty decent job of it too. You tell her it's time to do the dishes and she scurries into the kitchen (actually it's closer to a full out run but she's little so it's still a scurry). She unloads what she can, puts them mostly into the right spots, and as long as someone else is grabbing the stuff she can't reach all is well. If you don't grab that stuff then you end up with dishes in weird places or silverware all in one drawer. Regardless, we started early with the boys and to this day they do chores pretty much every night. Each kiddo has three chores every night, and minus a few complaints here and there and a bit of micromanaging for a few specific chores that they've become slackers at, they do a pretty decent job. I wouldn't eat off the floor after the clean it, but hey, it's one less thing that I have to do, and they contribute to the household! So, yes, we start 'em young here. And yes, it works, and we have the track record to prove it.