Sitting around with a group of friends last night, the topic of youth entitlement came up in conversation. I had plenty to share about what we’ve learned over the last year and a half… along with the hoard of compelling statistics describing our youth these days.

We talked about the fact that we parents just can’t seem to stop ourselves, even in dire situations, from racing in to save, finagle, coordinate, organize, manipulate, and so much more. In the name of love, because it feels like love, we race in to pave a way to Easy Street for our kids.

As we talked, I shared not only what we’ve learned about work and its benefits; but also the need to present genuine responsibility laden work. Not work just to work, but something that is needed. These opportunities avail themselves every day in every family… if we let them. Everyone needs to eat, so why not let the kids cook. Everyone needs to wear clean clothes, so why not let the kids do the laundry. Everyone uses a bathroom, why not let the kids clean it.

I so admire one of my friends sitting in the group who doles out the jobs on a regular basis. She often posts them on her kids’ doors. They get the assignment and are expected to complete it by the end of the day. Door Chores.

“We could all use a little dose of the Ann’s approach,” I told the group. “Her kids are pitching in on a daily basis.”

My friend shared, “Today I told one of the girls that she needed to clean either the upstairs kid bathroom or the downstairs guest bath. She chose the kids bathroom. After a while, she came to me and said, ‘Just go look. Cleanest bathroom ever!’ … and it was. She did an amazing job. She was so proud of herself… never balked, just did it without so much as a reminder.”

“Yeah,” I throw in for the rest of the group. “All her kids do the real stuff.”

“Out of necessity.” she added.

She said this because the only reason the kids help out in a very real and needed way is becuase they have to. With four kids, my friend can’t do it herself. When they needed to cut back on any non-essential expenses to help ends meet, they have trimmed to the nub. Part of the trimming included saying good-bye to their 2-day a week cleaning help. With the help gone, the kids in this family step up in a real and necessary way. So she would say that “out of necessity” the kids help.

As I listened to her, it dawned on me that it is “out of necessity” that ALL of us should have our kids genuinely doing the same thing. Not as some “work” badge of honor just to do it, but because the family needs it. Because they need it. Out of necessity, the kids need to have daily household chores on their plates so they know how to persevere. They need to know that no job is beneath them. They need to know what it takes to operate a home. They need to know that sometimes you have to get dirty to get things clean and to serve. They need to know that a family operates as a unit, everyone pitching in. That they belong. That they are a part of the group. That they are needed.

Out of necessity, we all need to lighten the load of paid assistance and increase the load of very able bodied family members … because we love them; because they can; because, though seemingly mundane, it equips them to do much greater things.

Just sayin’.

Thanks for walking the road with me.

-Kay

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