In an effort to be a loving and kind parent, are you teaching your kids that they deserve to be served?
In the name of efficiency and a job-well-done, are you teaching your kids that they are incapable of working hard or doing things correctly?
In an effort to give them a “carefree, responsibility-free” childhood, are you causing them to doubt their self-worth?
In an attempt to keep your kids “safe”, are you stifling their growth?
Most parents in our culture are struggling with these issues. We want to give our children a magical, wonderfully happy and carefree childhood. But, is that really what we are supposed to be doing? Aren’t we supposed to be preparing our children for adulthood?
In her hilarious and very real book, Cleaning House: A Mom’s 12-Month Experiment to Rid Her Home of Youth Entitlement, Kay Wyma tackles these subjects head on. This book reads a bit like a diary as Kay Wyma shows us exactly what teaching kids responsibility looks like in her own home, complete with kickback from her kids and bewilderment from her husband and friends. Kay sticks with her plan, however, and the benefits are astonishing.
Kay also includes statistics and interesting facts from leading authorities and articles about how the lack of responsibility and the entitlement attitudes of this generation of kids is seriously hindering them for real life.
I love books that are super practical, and Cleaning House definitely fits that bill! The specific areas that Kay addresses include teaching our kids to:
∗Pick Up Bedrooms and Make Beds
∗Cook and Navigate a Grocery Store
∗Work in the Yard
∗Work Outside of the Home (Babysitting, Yard Work for Neighbors, etc.)
∗Clean Bathrooms
∗Do Laundry
∗Tackle Basic Home Maintenance Projects
∗Be Hospitable
∗Work Together
∗Run Errands
∗Serve Others
∗and Exercise Good Manners
If you are looking for a truly enjoyable book to read that will challenge you in your parenting and encourage you that you are not alone on this journey, Cleaning House is for you! I cannot recommend it enough.